Daily Kos & by Kos: Open primaries? No, no and hell no (HRC GP)

[wildeyed]

28. Chicken or the egg problem....

They can't get on the ballot so it is hard to attract support so they can't get on the ballot. They are mostly spoilers anyway, except in very local elections. If we went to a ranked preference ballot, that would eliminate the spoiler issue, but that is too rad for most people to comprehend at this point. Baby steps....

In the meantime, the independent voters exist, and that demographic is growing. The Democratic Party can acknowledge that and try to work with them, convert them to allies, or go the way of the GOP. The GOP is dying, in part, because they can't wrap their heads around the changes in our electorate. I don't want the Dems to make a similar mistake, is all.

We have all been making fun of #BernieMath for the past few month. And lord knows it HAS been amusing. But for us to pretend those independent voters are not a growing force in politics would be the same thing. Ignoring mathematical facts because they do not fit our narrative is not a winning strategy.

IMO, either we let the indy candidates run legit as third-party with a chance to win or we allow them to participate in choosing our party candidates. We can certainly justify shutting them out for the process, but I do not think this is a wise choice, long term. The GOP did that and their base just burned them down. Sanders is the warning shot across the Democratic Party's bow. I do not like Bernie Sanders. Anyone who know my posts knows that is true. But this is not about Sanders, really. It is about how demographics are changing and parties are shifting in this country. You cannot ignore these kinds of demographic shifts and survive politically. It is what it is.