Comments on: Virginia GOP abandons ultra-moronic loyalty oath for primary vote

By: Pam

Pam — Sat, 01 Dec 2007 23:04:21 +0000

What evidence is there that many Democrats would want to vote for someone that they don’t like in the Republican primary?

They wouldn’t be voting for someone they like. Ron Paul could very well get quite a few votes from MI. The Democrats are having a primary on the very same day, but the only name on the ballot is Clinton, Hillary. The other candidates names could not appear on the ballot..Even a democrat can see the opportunity to turn their negative into a Republican negative.

By: thuja

thuja — Sat, 01 Dec 2007 22:59:00 +0000

I’m skeptical. What evidence is there that many Democrats would want to vote for someone that they don’t like in the Republican primary? I know that sometimes elections are close, but still the idea that the Dems would vote consistently so as to injure Republican chances in a national election require far more unity and intelligence than I would attribute to Democrats (or Republicans or any other group for that matter). If I see Ron Paul or Denis Kucinich win a state, I’ll believe.

By: steveegg

steveegg — Sat, 01 Dec 2007 22:08:59 +0000

Since when has cost mattered to government? :-P

By: Pam

Pam — Sat, 01 Dec 2007 22:08:06 +0000

steveegg on December 1, 2007 at 4:57 PM

Oops..my mistake. But on that subject, do any states hold them on seperate dates? I’ve got to believe it is costly to do it that way.

By: steveegg

steveegg — Sat, 01 Dec 2007 21:57:55 +0000

I don’t know how VA does their primary ballots, but when I get my ballot, I must pick a party, and stick with it through the entire ballot or it gets tossed…

Pam on December 1, 2007 at 4:54 PM

Which is how it works in Wisconsin. Of course, all the partisan primaries are run on the same day here.

My question pertained to the instance of one party running its primary one day, with the other running it another day.

By: Pam

Pam — Sat, 01 Dec 2007 21:54:39 +0000

Or vice versa.

Oldnuke on December 1, 2007 at 4:26 PM

Of course, but there is only going to be one name on the primary ballot, Hillary Clinton, so therefore why would a Republican waste their vote? Michigan will deliver Hillary her win, and the MI democrats get no choice in the matter.

steveegg on December 1, 2007 at 4:40 PM

I don’t know how VA does their primary ballots, but when I get my ballot, I must pick a party, and stick with it through the entire ballot or it gets tossed…

By: No Runny Eggs » Blog Archive » Stupid Pubbie Tricks - Virginia edition reversed

Sat, 01 Dec 2007 21:41:17 +0000

[...] (H/T – Allahpundit) [...]

By: steveegg

steveegg — Sat, 01 Dec 2007 21:40:12 +0000

You’re only supposed to vote in one primary (I think) but it can be either one and you can write in a candidate.

Oldnuke on December 1, 2007 at 4:31 PM

Which begs the next question; do the municipalities keep a list of who voted in the first primary to exclude those that did from the second?

By: steveegg

steveegg — Sat, 01 Dec 2007 21:38:46 +0000

One more thought, request actually, for an intrepid Virginia reader. The WaPo “helpfully” listed a bunch of other “loyalty oath” incidents involving the Republicans over the last dozen years, but didn’t list any involving the Democrats. I highly doubt that the ‘Rats would let this be the exclusive province of the Pubbies. I don’t have any long-term contacts there, so I’ll need your help in seeing whether they also sought “loyalty oaths” at primary time.

By: Oldnuke

Oldnuke — Sat, 01 Dec 2007 21:31:07 +0000

You’re only supposed to vote in one primary (I think) but it can be either one and you can write in a candidate.

By: Oldnuke

Oldnuke — Sat, 01 Dec 2007 21:26:35 +0000

So, therefore, it is just like MI, and in theory, the Democrats could legally screw the Republican ballot..

Pam on December 1, 2007 at 4:11 PM

Or vice versa.

By: steveegg

steveegg — Sat, 01 Dec 2007 21:19:42 +0000

Would Democrats have been allowed to vote in a GOP primary held a week later if they’d already voted in the Democratic primary a week before? Presumably not.

I wouldn’t bet on that. Given two separate elections on separate days, I rather doubt that it would be legal to allow electors to vote on one day and not the other. What a state can do is prohibit voting for a candidate in one party’s primary and on the same ballot vote for a candidate in another party’s primary (in fact, that is precisely what Wisconsin does).

A very quick search through Virginia’s election laws does not address this, and given that the 2004 Presidential primaries were held on a single day, I cannot judge whether a split primary has ever been an issue there. Any Virginia residents able to shed light on this?

By: Pam

Pam — Sat, 01 Dec 2007 21:11:40 +0000

In Virginia voters do not register by party. Any registered voter may vote in any primary.

Oldnuke on December 1, 2007 at 3:44 PM

So, therefore, it is just like MI, and in theory, the Democrats could legally screw the Republican ballot..

By: Oldnuke

Oldnuke — Sat, 01 Dec 2007 20:44:39 +0000

In Virginia voters do not register by party. Any registered voter may vote in any primary.

By: Pam

Pam — Sat, 01 Dec 2007 20:35:21 +0000

Theworldisnotenough on December 1, 2007 at 3:31 PM

That is exactly what I anticipate happening.

By: Theworldisnotenough

Theworldisnotenough — Sat, 01 Dec 2007 20:31:36 +0000

Don’t put it past the Paulnuts to stack the deck. If a while lot of newly registered primary voters select Ron Paul from districts ssurrounding college campuses we know why…

By: Pam

Pam — Sat, 01 Dec 2007 20:31:16 +0000

Allahpundit, I linked to this because of the MI primary. MI dems get no choice other than Hillary on their ticket..there is nothing stopping them from voting on the Republican ballots…It’s a foregone conclusion that the Democrats will be able to legally skew our election to their benefit.

By: Right Voices » Blog Archive » MI: “I was very disappointed as a clerk and as a Michigan taxpayer that I am running an election where nobody is elected … and the taxpayers are paying $10 million to run it for the political parties,&

Sat, 01 Dec 2007 20:18:48 +0000

[...] Allahpundit gives his take on the Virginia Primary, which had the Republicans wanted voters to take a loyalty pledge. Their primaries are not on the same day, which is not how Michigan’s is set up. Michigan does not have party registration, so Democrats and Independents could still participate if they so chose. [...]

By: jp

jp — Sat, 01 Dec 2007 20:08:46 +0000

If Hillary is running away with it, Dems could decide to vote GOP for obvious reasons.

the same token, RP is bringing out the fringes that never vote and aren’t Repubs and never will be. The scary thing is this group probably isn’t factored into polling….similar scenario to what Dick Morris says about Hillary bringing out single women who aren’t factored into polling samples because they never vote.

By: jp

jp — Sat, 01 Dec 2007 20:04:35 +0000

they tried this, because they know non-republicans who would never be republicans are planning on voting in the GOP primary for Ron Paul. either because they like paul(mcGovernite’s) or to cause problems for the GOP. in Virginia anyone can vote in whichever primary they want.

By: Damian G.

Damian G. — Sat, 01 Dec 2007 19:54:25 +0000

Semi-O/T:

Which way do you think the State of Macaca will vote in ‘08, and will the ridiculously likely Warner Senate win influence said vote?

By: Allahpundit

Allahpundit — Sat, 01 Dec 2007 19:53:21 +0000

Follow up question, even if they are not allowed, is he saying that they are anyway?

I honestly can’t make heads or tales of it.

By: MirCat

MirCat — Sat, 01 Dec 2007 19:49:55 +0000

Would Democrats have been allowed to vote in a GOP primary held a week later if they’d already voted in the Democratic primary a week before?

Follow up question, even if they are not allowed, is he saying that they are anyway?

- The Cat

P.S. I think we all know the answer to this.

P.P.S. Yeah, he just can’t think on his feet and just came up with the best back pedal he could.