Which candidate should be the Republican nominee?

[ASTalumna06]

Um, I have a question..

Why is ANYONE still voting for Rick Santorum?

[moe.ron]

Originally Posted by ASTalumna06

Um, I have a question..

Why is ANYONE still voting for Rick Santorum?

Cause they want anybody but romney

[AGDee]

Originally Posted by ASTalumna06

Um, I have a question..

Why is ANYONE still voting for Rick Santorum?

I hate to say this, but the Democratic Party and unions in Michigan were encouraging Dems to vote for him in the primary in hopes that Romney wouldn't get the nomination because they think Romney has a chance of beating Obama but Santorum doesn't.

I do not agree with that in principle. Republicans should vote in the Republican primary. Democrats should vote in the Republican primary only if they would really vote for that candidate in the general election when November comes. (I did that once, for McCain, in 2000, before he started pandering to the ultra conservative right, and I would have voted for him that year.) Independents should vote for the candidate they would vote for in November also.

Purposely skewing primary results is shady to me.

[DaemonSeid]

Originally Posted by AGDee

I hate to say this, but the Democratic Party and unions in Michigan were encouraging Dems to vote for him in the primary in hopes that Romney wouldn't get the nomination because they think Romney has a chance of beating Obama but Santorum doesn't.

I do not agree with that in principle. Republicans should vote in the Republican primary. Democrats should vote in the Republican primary only if they would really vote for that candidate in the general election when November comes. (I did that once, for McCain, in 2000, before he started pandering to the ultra conservative right, and I would have voted for him that year.) Independents should vote for the candidate they would vote for in November also.

Purposely skewing primary results is shady to me.

GOPers were urging Republican voters to vote for Hillary Clinton in 2008 to keep Obama from winning the Democratic nomination. So, this isn't new. Shadiness goes and comes all the way around.

[AGDee]

Originally Posted by DaemonSeid

GOPers were urging Republican voters to vote for Hillary Clinton in 2008 to keep Obama from winning the Democratic nomination. So, this isn't new. Shadiness goes and comes all the way around.

I know. And I think it is wrong both ways.

[DeltaBetaBaby]

Originally Posted by AGDee

I know. And I think it is wrong both ways.

I agree. The first amendment guarantees the right of free association. I think that each party should be allowed to pick its own nominee, and open primaries are inherently troublesome.

[ASTalumna06]

Originally Posted by AGDee

I hate to say this, but the Democratic Party and unions in Michigan were encouraging Dems to vote for him in the primary in hopes that Romney wouldn't get the nomination because they think Romney has a chance of beating Obama but Santorum doesn't.

I guess this makes sense. Above everything else, I wondered why Republicans would vote for him knowing that there was little chance he'd actually win the presidency over Obama. However, I also know that there are some people out there who do actually want him to win the whole damn thing.. And they actually believe he can do it.

Originally Posted by DaemonSeid

GOPers were urging Republican voters to vote for Hillary Clinton in 2008 to keep Obama from winning the Democratic nomination. So, this isn't new. Shadiness goes and comes all the way around.

Definitely not new.. And definitely not right.. But at least the thought of Hillary being president didn't scare the s*** out of me.

[agzg]

Originally Posted by AGDee

I hate to say this, but the Democratic Party and unions in Michigan were encouraging Dems to vote for him in the primary in hopes that Romney wouldn't get the nomination because they think Romney has a chance of beating Obama but Santorum doesn't.

I do not agree with that in principle. Republicans should vote in the Republican primary. Democrats should vote in the Republican primary only if they would really vote for that candidate in the general election when November comes. (I did that once, for McCain, in 2000, before he started pandering to the ultra conservative right, and I would have voted for him that year.) Independents should vote for the candidate they would vote for in November also.

Purposely skewing primary results is shady to me.

I don't like it even one little bit - but mostly because of the massive potential to backfire. I want Santorum nowhere near the White House, and even running against Obama in the general election is too close.

I mean, at least Hillary was a more viable candidate.

[TonyB06]

Originally Posted by agzg

I don't like it even one little bit - but mostly because of the massive potential to backfire. I want Santorum nowhere near the White House, and even running against Obama in the general election is too close.

I mean, at least Hillary was a more viable candidate.

What's the potential for this backfiring? It's a political mechanism, one of many, that's both sides use and both sides, for whatever reason, allow.

And as has been noted, Rush Limbaugh advocated this in 2008, and Romney is on record as saying he did this himself, voting in the '92 Democratic primary for Paul Tsongas, to slow the momentum of Bill Clinton.

[agzg]

Originally Posted by TonyB06

What's the potential for this backfiring? It's a political mechanism, one of many, that's both sides use and both sides, for whatever reason, allow.

And as has been noted, Rush Limbaugh advocated this in 2008, and Romney is on record as saying he did this himself, voting in the '92 Democratic primary for Paul Tsongas, to slow the momentum of Bill Clinton.

What if something happened (PLEASE GOD NO) to President Obama between now and election day, and Joe Biden either had to campaign for President Obama or campaign for himself?

I didn't word correctly - I don't think the potential itself is massive, I think the backfire is massive.

[DeltaBetaBaby]

Originally Posted by agzg

What if something happened (PLEASE GOD NO) to President Obama between now and election day, and Joe Biden either had to campaign for President Obama or campaign for himself?

I didn't word correctly - I don't think the potential itself is massive, I think the backfire is massive.

If, FSM forbid, something happened to Obama, I do not think it is Biden who would step in as the democratic candidate.

I agree with you, though, it is stupid to assume that the dems have a lock on beating Santorum.

[PiKA2001]

Originally Posted by DeltaBetaBaby

If, FSM forbid, something happened to Obama, I do not think it is Biden who would step in as the democratic candidate.

I agree with you, though, it is stupid to assume that the dems have a lock on beating Santorum.

I think it would depend on timing. There might not be enough time to find a democratic candidate. If something like Watergate came up right before the general election forcing Obama to resign and a Santorum win.... I'd LOL first, then cry, then slap a vote fraud-ing liberal.

[agzg]

Originally Posted by TonyB06

Apologies, but I'm missing the point of your post. Can you clarify?

If liberals mess with the Republican primary process because "there's just no way Santorum could win a general election," and he wins the primary and goes to the general election, and something goes wrong with the Obama campaign, I'm going to slap every person who voted in the Republican primary that I meet.

That was the point of my post. While the chances might be low that any of that happens, it's not a chance I'm willing to take.

[PiKA2001]

Originally Posted by DaemonSeid

GOPers were urging Republican voters to vote for Hillary Clinton in 2008 to keep Obama from winning the Democratic nomination. So, this isn't new. Shadiness goes and comes all the way around.

HUH? Wasn't Hillary the candidate to beat going into the primaries?

Originally Posted by AGDee

I hate to say this, but the Democratic Party and unions in Michigan were encouraging Dems to vote for him in the primary in hopes that Romney wouldn't get the nomination because they think Romney has a chance of beating Obama but Santorum doesn't.

I do not agree with that in principle. Republicans should vote in the Republican primary. Democrats should vote in the Republican primary only if they would really vote for that candidate in the general election when November comes. (I did that once, for McCain, in 2000, before he started pandering to the ultra conservative right, and I would have voted for him that year.) Independents should vote for the candidate they would vote for in November also.

Purposely skewing primary results is shady to me.

I agree. I also saw some calls on FB for Michigan dems to get out and vote for the most "douchy" guy

[Benzgirl]

Originally Posted by PiKA2001

I agree. I also saw some calls on FB for Michigan dems to get out and vote for the most "douchy" guy

That could be any of the four.