Reply #45: Got my vote [View All]

for supremely ignorant post.

A primary is not an election. You can't be disenfranchised from a primary as you have no legal right to participate. The Supreme Court has long said that political parties have a right to establish their ticket - to choose their own candidates by whatever means they choose. Remember, parties used to choose their candidates in smoke filled rooms. Thankfully, we don't do that any more. States are still free to choose from a variety of methods from caucus to primary+caucus to closed primary to open primary. The Democratic Party has established a minimum set of rules for allowing the general public to participate in the selection process.

Back in the early 80's when the Supreme Court said the DNC could disallow my state's open primary from counting based on the way it was conducted, my state party didn't plop down on it's diaper and have a tantrum. We came up with a way to select our candidates for the General Election ballot that conformed to the DNC rules. That meant we didn't vote that year, we had a caucus instead. Since then, my state party has negotiated a plan that allows for us to continue our open primary in a modified way.

Imagine what role Florida and Michigan could have had if their party leaders had acted like adults.