presidential primary

[redbird]

The Massachusetts presidential primary was today, as part of "Super Tuesday." Because Massachusetts has open primaries, I am registered as an "unenrolled" voter, meaning I can vote in whichever party's primary I like, and can decide that at the last minute.

I was dithering between asking for a Democratic primary ballot and voting for "uncommitted," as a message to Biden that I don't like his support of Netanyahu and think the US should be pushing (harder) for a cease-fire in the Gaza Strip, or a Republican ballot to vote against Trump, which at this point means for Nikki Haley. I made my decision at the last minute, when the poll worker asked me which ballot I wanted. I asked for a Republican ballot, meaning I voted in the Republican primary for the first time in my life.

Voting in the Republican primary feels weird; voting for a candidate I dislike and expect to lose also feels weird. I've often voted for candidates who I expected to lose, because I hoped they would win. Haley would be a horrible president, but not I think as bad as Trump. If the Massachusetts primary had been earlier, I would probably have gritted my teeth and voted for Chris Christie, who was running an anti-Trump campaign. Teeth gritted in part because I lived in New York City when Christie was governor of New Jersey.

The regular state primary will be in September, and I will happily take a Democratic ballot and vote for my incumbent congresswoman, Ayanna Pressley.

Comments

[sabotabby]

Ooof. I dunno what I'd do. I don't know what I'll do come our election tbh.

[otter]

I opted to vote "uncommitted". Hopefully, slightly more useful than when I voted communist at age 18 in protest of Reagan (and Mondale). I also registered as a conscientious objector that year, when my step-brother had to register for the draft.

[anne]

The only thing wrong with my condo is that I'm in Lynch's district now. But I'll forever be proud that I voted for her every chance I got, especially that first primary.

[minoanmiss]

I thought about registering Republican to vote for Haley but I couldn't do it. In addition to all her political positions ever, I bear her a grudge for how she treats her immigrant heritage. You are (unsurprisingly) more sensible than I.

[redbird]

I'm not sure if I'm more sensible, or more cynical, or cynical in a slightly different way.

[kiya]

My reaction to doing roughly the same thing was coming out of it feeling like a ninja who has succsessfully infiltrated the enemy base and gotten away clean.

[beatrice_otter]

Yeah, I voted as a Republican for Haley, too. Not that I think she can win against Trump, but hey, she'd be less awful if she happened to get elected.

[redbird]

Definitely a bit of that.

I was also reminded of one of my high school teachers telling us that he had registered as a Democrat so he could vote in the Democratic primaries, even though he would almost always then vote for a Republican, who would predictably lose in that district.

[adrian_turtle]

I would have felt a great deal more uncomfortable *registering* as a Republican, rather than just voting in the Republican primary with the ability to casually vote in the Democratic primary in a few months. The first pollworker asked if I was a Republican or a Democrat (rather than which ballot I wanted), and it was extraordinarily uncomfortable to say "Republican." Not as uncomfortable as wearing a Nazi uniform to infiltrate one of their meetings, but in that direction. I bitterly resent what my country has become.

[minoanmiss]

Oh, I thought I'd have to register as a Republican to vote in their primary. I am greatly relieved I wouldn't actually have to do that. But yeah even calling myself a Republican for the duration of a primary would inflict what the kids call "psychic damage". I hear you.

[adrian_turtle]

When you register to vote, you can choose a party, or NOT choose a party. In MA, registering without choosing a party means you are registered as "unenrolled" and you are eligible to vote in any primary. (Only one. You go in and they give you one ballot.) This year the choices were Democratic, Republican, and Libertarian.
Some other states do it differently. Some have "closed primaries," where you need to register in advance with a party in order to vote in its primary, though this is becoming less common. Some with "open primaries" use other names for voters who register without naming a political party...unaffiliated or independent, rather than unenrolled.

[adrian_turtle]

Even yesterday morning, I didn't think Haley had any chance of being elected. I voted for her in the hope she would get enough electoral votes to get a floor speech at the GOP convention. I wanted there to be more than Trump being heard in the Republican Party. It makes me sad that's not happening.

[adrian_turtle]

That sounds like an inverted version of the 2016 Democrats who didn't want the Democratic nominee to run against a competent bad guy who had proved himself capable of governing a state or doing substantial things in the Senate. (Bad things, but substantial things.) So they went out in the primaries and voted for a bankrupt laughingstock who would be easy for any Senator to beat in the general election. Oops.

[redbird]

Not that sneaky, if I recall correctly: this guy assumed that, where he lived, any Democratic nominee would defeat any Republican, so he wanted the Democrats to pick more conservative candidates, who he might agree with about something. But it's been a long time, and if he went into any detail, I don't remember it.

[minoanmiss]

makes notes Thank you for explaining this to me -- I had it muddled.

[beatrice_otter]

Alas, yeah.

[ahunter3]

Well, yeah, Haley would make a better president than Trump. So would Ronald Reagan, despite being dead. I mean, talk about your low bars...