Ian in comments made an interesting statement:
I recently switched my registration to republican so I can vote for her [CHENEY] in the primary. It makes my skin crawl and my soul hurt to think about a) being a registered republican and b) voting for Cheney.
What are people who live in competitive or red leaning districts that have closed primaries thinking about changing parties to vote anti-authoritarian? To me, a fundamental belief that democracy, defined simply as a system where parties can and do lose and then accept that fact as they change and wait for the next election, is the key baseline value. Everything above that is policy worth voting on in a very consistent way in the general election.
Democrats as a party believe in democracy. There is no intra-party debate over whether or not an election is legitimate. There are plenty of debates over policy. There are plenty of fights over identity. I have strong opinions on some policy preferences but the core assumption that democracy is a good thing is universal among individuals who have a chance in hell of a winning a primary.
That is not the case for Republicans. Last night in Colorado, the anti-democratic slates in the GOP primaries lost.
Colorado is one of the states that makes it easiest to register to vote & to vote (inc. all-mail voting and wide use of drop boxes). And it has a near-record turnout rate.
It decisively rejected a whole slate of election deniers today running for election offices and Senate.
— Taniel (@Taniel) June 29, 2022
So are people thinking about taking Republican primary ballots when and where available to vote against anti-democratic authoritarians and precluding the ability to add their votes/voices to intra-Democratic party squabbles?
The North Carolina primary cycle is over for 2022. I think that anti-anti-democratic votes are the most valuable votes I can cast in primaries for the next several years.
Party Switching and anti-authoritarian votingPost + Comments (90)