I want to make something clear right from the beginning. I am not for unity between the two major political parties in the United States. I do not see any benefit from party loyalists “crossing the aisle” or “working together” or “getting things done.” As far as I am concerned if the Republicans and the Democrats cooperate that is generally bad for the taxpayers.
For those among you who have grown disgusted with the tawdriness of American politics I assure you party primaries lay at the heart of your nausea. Political campaigns are largely won at the stage of the party primary. It is relatively rare for a general election to determine anything except the most razor-thin of political questions, most prominently presidential elections, which have not seen anything more than a single-digit point spread since Richard Nixon’s 1972 defeat over George McGovern.
Only the most idealogical people turn out for primaries which causes presidential candidates to throw red meat to their loudest constituents then attempt to moderate to try and win swing states in a general election.
I am not sure the primary system is here to stay. But I would certainly like to hasten its destruction. As such I have long advocated that taxpayers should not be on the hook to pay for party primaries. If this option were forced most die-hard Republicans, in a one-party state like Alabama, might whine about funding their own primaries but ultimately they should go along because they know that the Democrats in Alabama could never afford to foot the bill for their own primaries. The result will be that Democrat, and eventually Republican, party committee would just pick their candidates thus increasing the value of becoming a party influencer. I would be fine with that since the taxpayers do not fund inter-party elections, at least not yet.
The trouble is the Alabama GOP has already attempted to influence the legislature into closing primaries, paid for by the public I remind you, to anyone who has not previously registered as a Republican. Their attempt failed in the legislative session this year but they will attempt it again. Allowing the GOP-controlled Alabama legislature to permit taxpayer funded, but party exclusive, elections would be a great injustice to our republic. Those who whine and moan about how the elections are rigged because we require a photo id to prove voter identity would be better served speaking out against the organized exclusion of non-partisans from a taxpayer funded election in the states that already require party registration.
As far as I am concerned you can drain the party affiliation out of it and the argument would still be valid. But let me remind you that the vast majority of Alabama Legislators are Republican. That means whenever they have a party-only meeting, or caucus, that a majority of the legislature is receiving encouragement, if not instructions, on how to vote on legislation in an environment that is legally secret.
The Alabama GOP holds regular, secret (the public is not allowed) caucus meetings, often on State property, that amounts not merely to a quorum, but a super-majority of the Alabama Legislature where the members are told directly how they are expected to vote on certain issues. If this happened in a non-party setting it would be illegal. They do this using taxpayer resources and taxpayer money. The money that the various caucuses raise for their own operation is exempted from public disclosure by State law. Given all that, should we really be paying for their elections as well?
Each state has to decide how they will conduct their elections, although even that notion is under attack at the federal level with attempts to set “election standards” from Washington. But given that each state conducts its own elections each must decide if taxpayer-funded primaries need to be eliminated. My wish is that no taxpayer in any state should have to pay for a political party’s primary, let alone one where they are not permitted to vote without declaring a party affiliation. Perhaps Alabama should set the example for all and eliminate taxpayer funded primaries next year instead of closing them off to anyone not belonging to the party.
