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LAS14

(15,540 posts)
Thu May 28, 2026, 08:39 PM Thursday

I've changed my mind about open primaries...

.... as of about 10 p.m. Monday night.

I've long been a proponent of keeping primaries limited to members of the party involved.  Why should people who are not members of a group get to have input into what the group does?  If you want to participate, join the group.

But after hearing Rachel Maddow's interview of historian Steven Ross, I've come to the conclusion that our two party system is so broken that we need to fight fire with fire.  We need to let the broader electorate pick all the candidates, because the core of the MAGA Republicans are out and out fascists.  Not "like" fascists, just plain fascists.

Here are the salient points.

- After WW2 many soldiers who fought because Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, not to protect democracy, came home enraged that blacks and Jews were moving into their neighborhoods and taking their jobs. They felt betrayed.  The lit a huge KKK cross atop Stone Mountain in Georgia to proclaim their outrage.

- There were hundreds of groups with names like "White Supremacists for..." and "White Nationalists for..."  Some pundit predicted that they would all coalesce when they could communicate instantaneously and could find a common leader.

That day has come.

We can no longer defend the two party system. We need to defend democracy.  We need open primaries.

6 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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I've changed my mind about open primaries... (Original Post) LAS14 Thursday OP
❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️ Tim S Thursday #1
top 2 is hilton vs blanco works for you? because of the overload of dems in the race? msongs Thursday #2
Those are two different things EdmondDantes_ 18 hrs ago #6
you don't have to look far to see (deplorable) unintended consequence stopdiggin Thursday #3
Seious question? Who do you mean by "We"? Fichefinder Yesterday #4
bumping in hopes of more discussion... LAS14 19 hrs ago #5

EdmondDantes_

(2,129 posts)
6. Those are two different things
Fri May 29, 2026, 01:43 PM
18 hrs ago

That potential in California is because of the jungle primary where the top two candidates from the primary go to the general election. What the OP is calling for is open primaries where anyone could vote in the Democratic primary not just registered Democrats or in a partially closed primary just Democrats or unaffiliated voters.

stopdiggin

(15,674 posts)
3. you don't have to look far to see (deplorable) unintended consequence
Thu May 28, 2026, 09:13 PM
Thursday

Your firs take (and paragraph) remains the correct one.

(and the gobbledygook about 'alienated white folk' and 'two party system' is non-sequitur. hate sinks its root in all manner of political system. )

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LAS14

(15,540 posts)
5. bumping in hopes of more discussion...
Fri May 29, 2026, 12:44 PM
19 hrs ago

... about how to combat the takeover of our system by a small cadre of nazis.

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