The S.C. Republican Primary: Bad News for the Democrats
The low turnout in the S.C. Republican primary may mean a huge turnout for the Democrats. That's bad news. by rtbohan
(libertarian)
Sunday, January 20, 2008
In the radio and television spin sessions following the Republican primary In South Carolina, the Democrats emphasized the meager turnout of voters, and promised that there would be many more voters in the Democratic primary next Saturday. They may be right, and they may be unhappy about it.
The Democrats are taking the position that the Republican vote was small because the Republicans are unhappy with President Bush, or uninspired by their choice of candidates. Both of these may in part be true. Two other things probably were more important. It was rainy and cold Saturday morning with a forecast of 1-3 inches of snow, and the electronic voting machines in Horry County were down until after five p.m. with a rumor circulating that there were no paper ballots and voters were being told to come back later. Republican voters who stayed away for one of the latter two reasons might still want to vote.
South Carolina is an open primary state. Any registered voter can appear and the polling place and ask to vote in either party's primary. The only restriction is that no one may vote in more than one primary. Unlike some states, there is ordinarily very little crossover voting in South Carolina. But this year may be different.
This year the Democratic primary, because of national party rules, comes a week after the Republican primary, Republicans who did not vote last Saturday may decide to take advantage of the open primary system and have a little fun with the Democrats. Or they may take advantage of the opportunity put their opinion of the Democratic candidates on record early.
Republicans might enjoy haveing the opportunity to vote for a black man for President without endangering their party. Republicans who want the opportunity to vote for a woman candidate for President without changing their poltical allegiance can do so. Those who would never vote for a black candidate or a woman candidate can vote against both by picking John Edwards.
My own guess is that the Republicans will show up next Saturday and vote for John Edwards, either because he is a South Carolina boy, or just to spread confusions among the Democrats.
Did you like this article? If you did, Thumb It! 4
thumbs so far
The views expressed
in this article are those of rtbohan only and
do not represent the views of Nolan Chart, LLC or its affiliates.
rtbohan is solely responsible for the contents
of this article and is not an employee or otherwise affiliated
with Nolan Chart, LLC in his/her role as a columnist.
