Reuters: Republicans' 'Operation Chaos' seeks to undermine South Carolina's Democratic primary

[JaneQPublic]

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-election-south-carolina-republica-idUSKCN20L1FF?taid=5e58350454a66900012cd7d6&utm_campaign=trueAnthem%3A+Trending+Content&utm_medium=trueAnthem&utm_source=twitter

CHARLESTON, S.C. (Reuters) - Republican activists in South Carolina are urging party voters to do the seemingly unthinkable: support U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders’ bid for the White House in the state’s Democratic primary on Saturday.

The unusual effort is aimed at exposing what the activists see as flaws in the Southern state’s open primary system - and at boosting the candidate many Republicans view as the easiest rival for Republican President Donald Trump to beat in November.

Sanders enters Saturday’s contest as the front-runner for the Democratic nomination, fueled by wins in New Hampshire and Nevada and a near-tie for first in Iowa.

But the Vermonter, an independent who calls himself a democratic socialist, now faces a tough challenge from Joe Biden. The former vice president is bolstered by strong support from African Americans who comprise a large share of South Carolina’s Democratic electorate.

“Bernie is a socialist and the most egregious of all the candidates. He is also the weakest against Trump,” said Pressley Stutts, a Tea Party activist and one of the organizers behind an interference effort dubbed “Operation Chaos.”

MORE...
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-election-south-carolina-republica-idUSKCN20L1FF?taid=5e58350454a66900012cd7d6&utm_campaign=trueAnthem%3A+Trending+Content&utm_medium=trueAnthem&utm_source=twitter

[DarthDem]

1. mhm

Shocker!!

[LakeArenal]

2. Yep.

[texasfiddler]

3. I trust Super delegates to pick our nominee

Over Trump supporters

[irisblue]

4. Ohio, March 17 primary is 'semi-closed'. Yeah, we're going to have issues here

From wiki-"Semi-closed. As in closed primaries, registered party members can vote only in their own party's primary. Semi-closed systems, however, allow unaffiliated voters to participate as well. Depending on the state, independents either make their choice of party primary privately, inside the voting booth, or publicly, by registering with any party on Election Day. Fourteen states – Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, New Hampshire, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio,[6] Oregon, Rhode Island, Utah, and West Virginia – have semi-closed primaries that allow voters to register or change party preference on election day.


Much more at site.

[The Mouth]

5. Every party does it when they can

they're stupid if they don't. Been going on as long as there's been a two party system. Of course lots of us made sure to vote in the Republican primaries in 1996 and 2012, idiotic not to, why waste a chance to mess with them?

This should not surprise anyone with two brain cells to bang together.

[JaneQPublic]

7. What evidence do you have of that?

GOPers from Limbaugh to Hewitt to Trump have publicly encouraged voting for the perceived weakest Dem candidate.

But who on the Dem side has led such an effort? Who did they perceive as the weakest candidate? If it was Trump in 2016, then their efforts backfired, didn't they?

Chaos voting doesn't work unless it's coordinated and everyone agrees to vote for the same opposing candidate. I've never heard of any Dem group organizing that.

[4139]

8. Evidence: " Prior to 1972 New Jersey had a strict law against cross "

Dec 13, 1975 · Prior to 1972 New Jersey had a strict law against cross over voting that was enacted after Frank Hague, the late Democratic boss, succeeded in having his party followers vote in a Republican primary to ensure the ...
https://www.nytimes.com/1975/12/13/archives/byrne-signs-a-ban-on-crossover-voting-byrne-signs-ban-on-crossover.html

It’s been going on since the first primaries

[JaneQPublic]

10. You had to go back 45 years to find a single example.

One example that occurred nearly a half century ago does not prove it's been happening all the time ever since.

[4139]

11. Trying to show age... it's been happening for 100 years

[Peacetrain]

6. I wrote about this last week here.. if we do not start closing our primaries..

and protecting our party I am leaving the party... I will stay in through this election to try and get our nominee elected.. but there is no excuse for this.. none.

The primaries and caucuses are party elections.. not state elections, and our party needs to flex some muscle and close the primaries to party members only... If you want to pick our candidate you need to be a member of the party not a member of the opposition party..It makes no sense

I have had it with this nonsense. Not another penny from me

I will become a liberal Independent. I am that po'd about this.

Otherwise operation chaos will become the norm and we will be standing for nothing

[empedocles]

9. Wonder what BS is doing about 'Operation Chaos', since he is the 'beneficiary'?