Making Mischief in Michigan

The Michigan primary has been called a must-win state for Mitt Romney, and a win there would increase the momentum of John McCain or Mike Huckabee. The candidates know this, so they are focusing a good deal of time and money into the state.

Unfortunately, the Democrats know it as well.

[State Rep. LaMar ] Lemmons told reporters Tuesday that the push for Republican Huckabee was prompted by the dearth of choices on the Democratic side of the Jan. 15 primary ballot. Lemmons said he himself supports Barack Obama, who chose not to run in Michigan. But Lemmons likes his tormenting and wants to turn out Democratic votes for Huckabee because, as he told the Detroit Free Press, “"the Republican establishment supports [Mitt] Romney and McCain.”

People choose to affiliate themselves with a political party because they agree with that party's principles and desire to have a say in who is chosen to represent that party in elections. So why do political parties allow those who may not have the party's best interests in mind to participate in the choosing of candidates? Sure, the parties should be attracting independent voters to their side, but here's an idea: if an independent voter is attracted enough to a candidate in one of the parties, how about that voter get off his or her duff and register in one of the parties for that particular election?

It's not that hard, and it's not binding. Sure, it might take awhile for that voter to wash those icky Republican or Democrat cooties off, but making party affiliation a requirement would put a minimal roadblock in the way of those who vote in opposing primaries only to screw with the outcome.

posted by Slublog at 10:48 AM

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