Reply #43: Absurdity on all counts [View All]

The whole "name recognition" argument is total bunk. We aren't living in the 1800s. We're living in a 24 hour news cycle, with candidate websites and discussions boards much like this very one. We were treated to countless debates amongst the primary candidates, nationally televised, before the first ballots were ever cast. I know because our local Democratic clubs actually had viewing parties for these debates. For anyone to say they were not prepared to make an informed choice as to which candidate to vote for just because they didn't campaign in person in Florida is absolutely ludicrious.

Your argument about King Abdullah is off base, as is your entire argument that just because the primary process isn't specifically in the Constitution doesn't give it a public effect. Federal and state election laws still govern the rules of primary elections. If someone commits election fraud during a primary election, it still is a crime punishable by the state. And the subject of the election isn't some far off, nebulous concept--it's concerning who the people want as a final nominee of a party for the general election to take on the office of the most powerful person in this land. Otherwise, we'd all have Hillary Clinton, John Edwards, Barack Obama, etc. facing off against Mike Huckabee, John McCain, Mitt Romney, etc. in November and it would be an insane free for all. Primary elections are recognized by the state so that the ballot in the general election will be short and orderly. Therefore, there is a clear federal and state interest in the primary election, which is why they are governed by federal and state law. Therefore, any interference in one's ability to vote (who is legally eligible to vote) or the failure to count or give effect to one's vote, is disenfranchisement.

Spin it any way you want, but at the end of the day, you are still arguing for disenfranchisement of voters who did nothing wrong other than to show up at the polls. And that is one of the most loathesome arguments a citizen of this country could make.