I'm in South Carolina. I was planning to cross party lines in the primary and vote for Haley. But I contacted my local county Democratic Party and here's what they said. Two responses from two different people.
1) Iowa is a small and insignificant (politically) state. Except during presidential primaries when it is the first state in the nation for Republicans. Winning Iowa can change the course of elections because of the momentum it represents. This year, South Carolina is the Iowa of the Democratic Party. And just as we did in 2020, we need to show that Democrats are strongly engaged and ready to rumble. If our turnout numbers are diluted because a large number of Dems vote in the Republican primary, the media - nationally - will be talking about soft Biden numbers, lack of support, weak showings, etc. That can have an outsized impact on the race.
Beyond that, there is no point in voting for Nikki. She will not beat Trump in SC and , even if she does, she has no chance of winning the nomination unless Trump dies or goes to jail. It’s a wasted vote, but not a harmless one. A good deal of harm can be done to our chances in November if we falter now.
2) We are not here to say whether Iowa is or isn’t politically insignificant, but what is important is that SC has a much more diverse electorate than Iowa. We fought hard to have the privilege of being First in the Nation. This is significant, showing the rest of the nation what a diverse population of Democrats sees as important. We want to keep this status and have good data going into 2028, therefore we need all of our Dems to show up and vote in the Dem primary.
Re: Data. Our data is messed up when people don’t vote in our primaries. Since we don’t register by Party in SC, primaries are the only way we have to target our voters.
There won’t be enough Dems to outweigh the Trump turnout in the primary, if even if some vote in their primary. It’s best to vote in ours, improve our data, and ensure that the rest of the country sees how fired up about the significance of the fact that we go first really is.
I hope you will vote in our primary on Feb 3.
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After reading this, we decided to stick with voting in the Democratic primary. I felt the second response made a compelling argument. Since we have early voting here, I've already cast my ballot.
Thanks for that. Georgia is an open primary state as well. In my rural conservative district many Dems vote on the Republican ballot because that's the only way to have a voice in local elections.
It's impossible to say for sure but, yeah, that's pretty much what most people think happened. Denise Majette won the primary and then won the Congressional seat.
I get what they are saying. They appreciate that SC is now the Democrats first primary. If turnout isn't good, they might lose that spot next time. I mean, Biden is pretty much a shoe in for being the nominee. I assume. 😂 They just want lots of people to vote for him. (A hard sell, knowing he really has no real opponent.)
Podcasting seems to be the new journalism but it's time-consuming and this takes over an hour. I don't want the ad-free link to be wasted so this group may find it interesting.
I felt somewhat better after listening. Ezra Klein and his guest talking about the election makes good listening and the transcript is helpful. But because I have a bad attitude about Joe Biden and the Democrat party this was an antidote,. (Unfortunately neither Klein nor Rosenberg give Israel more than a footnote and Gaza zero attention.)
That said, this is an easy conversation to follow. With those advisories, give it a listen.
Can't believe Republicans said "disenfranchises legal immigrants seeking citizenship" given the current feelings. Not that I'm convinced they're actually worried about legal immigrants.
I'm in South Carolina. I was planning to cross party lines in the primary and vote for Haley. But I contacted my local county Democratic Party and here's what they said. Two responses from two different people.
1) Iowa is a small and insignificant (politically) state. Except during presidential primaries when it is the first state in the nation for Republicans. Winning Iowa can change the course of elections because of the momentum it represents. This year, South Carolina is the Iowa of the Democratic Party. And just as we did in 2020, we need to show that Democrats are strongly engaged and ready to rumble. If our turnout numbers are diluted because a large number of Dems vote in the Republican primary, the media - nationally - will be talking about soft Biden numbers, lack of support, weak showings, etc. That can have an outsized impact on the race.
Beyond that, there is no point in voting for Nikki. She will not beat Trump in SC and , even if she does, she has no chance of winning the nomination unless Trump dies or goes to jail. It’s a wasted vote, but not a harmless one. A good deal of harm can be done to our chances in November if we falter now.
2) We are not here to say whether Iowa is or isn’t politically insignificant, but what is important is that SC has a much more diverse electorate than Iowa. We fought hard to have the privilege of being First in the Nation. This is significant, showing the rest of the nation what a diverse population of Democrats sees as important. We want to keep this status and have good data going into 2028, therefore we need all of our Dems to show up and vote in the Dem primary.
Re: Data. Our data is messed up when people don’t vote in our primaries. Since we don’t register by Party in SC, primaries are the only way we have to target our voters.
There won’t be enough Dems to outweigh the Trump turnout in the primary, if even if some vote in their primary. It’s best to vote in ours, improve our data, and ensure that the rest of the country sees how fired up about the significance of the fact that we go first really is.
I hope you will vote in our primary on Feb 3.
----
After reading this, we decided to stick with voting in the Democratic primary. I felt the second response made a compelling argument. Since we have early voting here, I've already cast my ballot.
That's really interesting. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for that. Georgia is an open primary state as well. In my rural conservative district many Dems vote on the Republican ballot because that's the only way to have a voice in local elections.
I vaguely remember years ago that Republicans were able to get rid of controversial Democrat Cynthia McKinney by doing the same thing.
It's impossible to say for sure but, yeah, that's pretty much what most people think happened. Denise Majette won the primary and then won the Congressional seat.
Ken, I think I smell a rat. I don’t think a big showing by Dems in SC will make much difference in the national scheme of things. JMO.
I get what they are saying. They appreciate that SC is now the Democrats first primary. If turnout isn't good, they might lose that spot next time. I mean, Biden is pretty much a shoe in for being the nominee. I assume. 😂 They just want lots of people to vote for him. (A hard sell, knowing he really has no real opponent.)
I see your point. I’m just panicking thinking about Trump being the nominee!!
“ a clerical update to get rid of old press releases?”
Ha.
Podcasting seems to be the new journalism but it's time-consuming and this takes over an hour. I don't want the ad-free link to be wasted so this group may find it interesting.
I felt somewhat better after listening. Ezra Klein and his guest talking about the election makes good listening and the transcript is helpful. But because I have a bad attitude about Joe Biden and the Democrat party this was an antidote,. (Unfortunately neither Klein nor Rosenberg give Israel more than a footnote and Gaza zero attention.)
That said, this is an easy conversation to follow. With those advisories, give it a listen.
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/25/podcasts/transcript-ezra-klein-interviews-simon-rosenberg.html?unlocked_article_code=1.RU0.Zma1.1xiLJT4sZc7L&smid=url-share
Can't believe Republicans said "disenfranchises legal immigrants seeking citizenship" given the current feelings. Not that I'm convinced they're actually worried about legal immigrants.
Sadly it reflects the intellect of the base of today's GOP
Houston Chronicle had a story on Duong Dai Luu arrested for Jan 6th. First story that made me wrinkle my brow at the accusations.
As for the border, didn't SCOTUS have a case they ruled where it was clear Congress needed a new law?