The Republican primary set for March 10th offers few real contests.
President Donald Trump will easily overwhelm Bill Weld and Roque De La Fuente in the presidential primary.
Rep. Trent Kelly is unopposed in the 1st Congressional District.
It doesn't matter who wins the 2nd District primary among Thomas Carey, Brian Flowers, and B.C. Hammond since incumbent Rep. Bennie Thompson will win easily in November.
Rep. Michael Guest should have little trouble with challenger James Tulp in the 3rd District.
While the 4th District ballot has four choices, Rep. Steven Palazzo should readily handle Carl Boyanton, Robert Deming, and Samuel Hickman.
The Democratic primary is another story.
Ten names are on the ballot in the presidential primary – former VP Joe Biden, former NY City Mayor Mike Bloomberg, former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg, Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar, former Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, entrepreneur Tom Steyer, Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, and entrepreneur Andrew Yang. While on the ballot, Yang, Steyer and Patrick have pulled out of the race.
Then there is the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate featuring Mike Espy, Tobey Bartee, and Jensen Bohren. Espy is the heavy favorite to win the nomination to once again take on Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith in November.
Remember, Mississippi does not register voters by party. Consequently, voters are free to choose each year which party primary they want to vote in.
So, given the lackluster races on the GOP ballot, will voters who usually vote Republican choose instead to meddle in the Democratic races?
Those who want to boost the Democrat least likely to beat Trump will be tempted. Many could vote for Bernie Sanders thinking Trump will clobber a self-proclaimed socialist. (There were reports of such from South Carolina plus Trump oriented PACs supporting Sanders.)
Those who fear any Democrat, but especially Sanders, might beat Trump will be sorely tempted help the candidate they think would make the least horrible president. Many could vote for Mike Bloomberg thinking the former Republican Mayor of New York City would be the most business friendly of the group.
While Mississippi Democrats will not have many delegates to award, as Mississippi Republicans remember from 1976, every delegate can count when there is a closely contested national convention.
The Democratic primary will award 36 pledged delegates on a proportional basis. To receive any delegates a candidate must score 15% or more of the vote at either the congressional district or statewide level. An additional five unpledged delegates are allocated to party leaders and elected officials – one to Rep. Bennie Thompson and four to members of the Democratic National Committee. Actual delegates will be chosen at district and state conventions to be held in April and May.
Significant meddling could also impact the Senate primary should crossover Republicans vote against Mike Espy.
It will be interesting to take a close look at vote results by precinct to see if much meddling does occur.
“Whoever meddles in a quarrel not his own is like one who takes a passing dog by the ears" – Proverbs 26:17.
Crawford is a syndicated columnist from Meridian.
Kingfish note: Was just thinking about it until I read this column. Should JJ start up Operation Chaos?
Sunday, March 1, 2020
Bill Crawford: Could Republican Meddling Impact Democratic Primary?
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12 comments:
Wishful thinking Biden wins!!
Suddenly crossing over in a primary is meddling. ROFLMAO
The party process is ridiculous anyway, almost guaranteed to provide a contest between the lesser of two evils. Why not cross over and insure that the other party's candidate is the greater evil? We get screwed anyway. Why not?
@12:55
Wooooosh
At what point will 4chan and Rush be designated criminal provocateurs? If Operation Chaos wasn't already illegal then it should be.
First of all it is not meddling. I cross over to vote in whichever primary is important to me. I vote in the Dem Primary, since I live in Jackson all the time because otherwise I have no voice in the local folks and they impact me far more than any idiot in Washington ever will. I do not appreciate this jerk suggesting I am meddling. I am VOTING. And yes, i very much plan to vote in the Dem primary because since there is nothing in the Rep one of interest, i am going to do as much as i can to vote for my interest. If you interpret that as meddling, the you are a typical liberal who believe he is always right and everyone else is always wrong. Vote early, vote often, and vote for Sanders!!! Whoop! Trump is going to hand him his A**.
"Meddling". It's my vote. I get to use it as I wish. When playing basketball I am allowed four fouls and disqualified on the fifth. If I choose to foul someone who is about to make a layup instead of fouling someone at half court is that being 'disruptive'? This article is written as if voting was supposed to be done by robots and strategy isn't allowed. Tell me, when Thad ran for reelection at 125 years old and almost lost, did any Dims vote for him in the runoff? Was that allowed?.
He forgot to mention that Democrats crossed over and meddled in the 2014 Republican Primary for Senate.
That any voter has to " declare" is repugnant.
I do not and will not pledge allegiance to a political party.
What's good for the GOOSE (aka African Americans exercising their legal right to choose Senator Thad Cochran) is good for the GANDER!
NO MEDDLING HERE! There is no party registration in Mississippi. I will vote in whichever primary I damn well please (knowing that I must choose a party primary and stick with it through any runoff) and have for my entire voting life. Sometimes I choose to vote in a Democrat primary to be able to elect my sheriff or supervisor. Sometimes I vote in a Republican primary to have a voice in a Statewide race.
The rules allow what they allow, but the reason for the primaries is so the parties can elect their nominees for the general election. Independents should stay home, Republicans should vote in the Republican primary, and Democrats should vote in the Democrat primary. As my girlfriend used to say, I don't understand why this is so hard.
It's a damned shame we didn't come up with an alternative to Bryant-Hyde. But, I reckon holding on to the seat is the objective, rather than having an effective senator in office.
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