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Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 1,981
Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 1,981 |
>wellstone<---------------------------------------->grams etc
Thanks to "Atomica" I could just about follow that. Sadly the "Source For Official Jesse Ventura Merchandise" was closed for remodelling so I wasn't able to purchase a souvenir. What's all this about independence for Minnesota? Perhaps we should get the twinning committees out and see if we can twin Minnesota with Scotland?
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Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 1,289
veteran
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veteran
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 1,289 |
registered independent
No matter what my political opinions might be at the moment, or who might be running for what party, I would never register as an independent. In this state, as in most states, an independent can not vote in a primary election. This is a real loss, since in many areas, most elections are decided in the primaries. When I was in college, my official residence (for voting purposes) was in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, a well-to-do area about 90 percent Republican. No Democrat ever got elected to anything there, and if you were not registered as a Republican you couldn't vote in the primary. Since I wanted to vote against Rep. Francis Walter, the chairman of the House Unamerican Activities Committee, I registered as a Republican, although I had every intention to vote for the Democrat candidate for president (JFK) in the general election.
The situation is reversed in Maryland, where I live. Republicans hardly every get elected to anything in Baltimore, but there are Republicans trying to, and it matters which Republicans win nomination in the primary election. Registered Republicans and Democrats get to pick their respective candidates in the primaries and can then vote for whichever they like in the general election, but independents have to choose from the candidates the others have picked.
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Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 5,400
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 5,400 |
In reply to:
an independent can not vote in a primary election. This is a real loss, since in many areas, most elections are decided in the primaries.
yes, true in NY too, I am registered as "democrat"-- but have gone to "fund raisers" for Republicans-- but generally think of my self as a liberal! NY does have the peculiar "rockerfelleer rebublicans" who are sometimes more liberal than democrates, or the liberals!
real decisions are often made in the primaries-- last year, i voted "late" after work at about 7PM, and was the 87th voter in my district (a large district!) to vote in the primary. 1 primary vote is equal to about 10 !
It very rare for me to vote "straight line" --that is all the candidate from one party.
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Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 4,757
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 4,757 |
Thanks for that, Bob and Helen - it makes several facets of USA politics clearer to me that I have always struggled to fully understand. I can't help thinking it is another old-fashioned and profoundly un-democratic principle to have to declare a nominal allegiance prior even to voting. But there again, I am a serf in a neo-feudal kingdom, so what do I know?! 
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Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542 |
>profoundly un-democratic principle to have to
declare a nominal allegiance prior even to voting
in theory, these primary rules are supposed to limit the voting to a winnowing of candidates within [your] party; of course, nothing ever works extrapolated from theory.... [in this case, how can they limit your free choice of party declaration -- so, for instance, republicans may cross over in the attempt to derail the most formidable democrat opponent, if there is no real contest on the republican side]
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 1,156
old hand
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old hand
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 1,156 |
Whom do you register with? The government? The party in question? Can you change your registration? I get the feeling things are different in Canada. You just "become a member" of a party. Probably involves a fee paid to said party. Then you can attend conventions and vote on the leader. I'm not clear on what happens if two people from one party want to run in a particular riding. I think the members in that riding get to vote on who should run. That kind of sounds like what you're talking about. But it may be that you can be a member of many parties, if you want, especially considering that some parties don't exist on both federal and provincial levels. This is something I'm not sure about. You might be a member of the Parti Quebecois provincially but the Bloc Qubecois federally (or is it the other way around - Bel?). Or Liberal in both, since it exists at both levels. All very confusing... 
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Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 4,757
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 4,757 |
riding
Ooh! Tell me more - is this the common term for electoral districts where you are? This is a wonderfully old word, with serious history...
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 1,156
old hand
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old hand
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 1,156 |
Yup, riding is the common word for "electoral district". Also "constituency" is used. One may be federal and one may be provincial. (Once again I curse the dictionary which is at home while I am at school.) Both seem to be used interchangeably. "Electoral district" is definitely a US term in our eyes.
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Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542 |
I'd just like to add (in the interests of the forum) that when it comes to US politics, republicans and democrats are unasinous. 
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Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542 |
>Whom do you register with? The government? The party in question? Can you change your registration? in Minnesota, you register on election day, for that primary election only; in effect you say, give me the <party of choice> ballot.
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