Breathe deep and think about what you are doing
Tomorrow is the Michigan primary. A significant number of Dem-leaning pundits and commentators are encouraging Democrats to cross over and vote for Rick Santorum in the GOP primary.
You can do that. It’s totally legal. I’m asking you not to.
I’ve already gone on record as to why I think this is a truly bad idea. Stupid. Misguided. Ill-informed. All that.
Are you really going to walk into your local voting location, declare yourself a Republican and then vote for the guy you hate the most? That’s democracy to you?
Don’t do it.
Rick Santorum literally thinks making college accessible to all American kids is snobby and elitist.
My good friend and Angry Black Lady co-blogger Nicholas Wilbur has a GREAT piece up today titled “Michigan Dems, Don’t Play Dirty Politics”. Here’s a snippet but I encourage you to read the whole thing before you pull the trigger on voting for Rick Santorum as Republican tomorrow.
Republicans are already disenchanted by their options. Voter turnout in almost every primary state thus far has been well below expectations. There is no clear frontrunner in the race, and it is unlikely that a nominee will be chosen before the party’s convention in August. More importantly, Obama is a campaign juggernaut who will slaughter whomever challenges him in November.Moulitsas admits the Republican primary race is a “clown show” already. The Michigan race is expected to be “razor thin” even without Democrats “meddling” in it, and “anything less than a resounding performance by Romney here would taint the achievement”; a “resounding performance” by Romney is unlikely given the small margin of victory pollsters are projecting, so the race will be deflating for his candidacy whether he wins or not. How much he wins by won’t matter. And furthermore, Santorum very well may pull off the Michigan primary without the help of Democrats.All of that is to say, Why interfere at all? […]
There are times when you have to get down in the mud with the elephants. But when you do, you get dirty. And when you’re drenched in the same filth as your opponent, you become indistinguishable, politically and morally, from the foe you’re trying to defeat.
The problem is, fighting fire with fire only creates a bigger fire. And our democratic process is the burn victim.
Read the whole thing HERE.
You can follow the misguided guidance of Markos Moulitsas who sent out an email today titled “This will sound strange” that ended with the statement “So please, head to your usual polling place on Tuesday, February 28, and vote for Rick Santorum. It might be painful, but you will be doing both President Obama, the Democratic Party and the entire country a big favor.”
If you find it painful and strange, you might wish to ask why you feel that way.
You can follow the truly bad advice of Michigan Democratic consultant Joe DiSano who wrote a piece for Huffington Post titled “Michigan Dems, Independents Should Vote for Santorum in Michigan Primary”.
When he says, “I am not concerned with the ethical or moral implications of voting in the GOP primary and neither should you be”, you might want to ask WHY you shouldn’t be concerned with the ethical or moral implications of this choice.
Primaries are for parties to choose their candidates. Choosing to interfere with that is an intentional decision to interfere with the democratic process. Period. Justify it however you want, you are still interfering with the democratic process if you are a Democrat and choose to vote in the Republican primary for Rick Santorum.
The Republican party is a completely cluster-fucked mess of disorganization at the moment. Why on EARTH would you give them something to coalesce around NOW???
Don’t do it. If you don’t have a non-presidential issue or race on your ballot tomorrow, stay home. You’ll have your chance to vote for President Obama at your May caucus when it will actually mean something. If you DO have ballot issues or races to vote on as a Democrat, by all means, get thee to the polls.
Because THAT is what democracy looks like.
