One of the reasons Republican folks are coming out and

[MineralMan]

saying nice things about one Democratic candidate or another is a real issue for the 2019 primaries.

We still have many states with open primaries, meaning that anyone can choose to vote on the Democratic primary ballot. That's the case in Minnesota, my current home. You declare that you are a Democrat, get the ballot and you can vote. We don't have party registration here.

So, if Republicans think that a lot of Republicans might do that, they could signal to those Democratic-ballot-voting Republicans which candidate they should vote for.

Because, the thing is, Trump is not going to have any serious competition in the Republican Primary, so lots of Republicans who can will vote in the Democratic primary. That could spell trouble for Democrats, really. Why? Because Republicans are going to recommend that Republicans vote for a popular Democrat who is less likely to beat Donald Trump in the General Election.

So, if you hear a Republican offering praise for a Democratic primary candidate, you should suspect that what's really happening is encouragement for Republicans to vote for the weaker candidate against Donald Trump. In fact, you should be sure of that.

It's a sneaky, backdoor approach to the Presidential election, but that's how Republicans do things. Republicans will be voting in the primary election in your state, if they can. Don't be misled by Republicans saying nice things about a Democratic candidate. They don't mean it. They're just signaling who other Republicans should vote for if they vote on the Democratic ballot in the primary election.

[PeeJ52]

1. Open primaries suck... n/t

[LongtimeAZDem]

2. This is one of the reasons why closed primaries are a necessity

[MineralMan]

4. I agree, but there's not time enough to change that

in most states. How things are is how they're going to be in 2020. It's a fact we have to deal with.

For example, in Minnesota, the state legislature considered a change in our voter registration policies this year, but it failed to go anywhere. So, next year, the primaries will be just like they have always been - open. You go to the polling place, ask for the ballot you want, and they hand it to you. We don't register to vote by party at all here.

[MaryMagdaline]

3. This will definitely be a problem

The only thing that will stop cross-voting is if there are hotly contested governorships or senatorships in the republican primaries, where the Repugs would be more motivated to vote in their own primaries than to cross party lines to vote in the Democratic primary.

[MineralMan]

5. Yes, exactly. Plus, there will be motivation for Republicans to

vote on the Democratic ballot, simply because Trump will have no credible opposition...at least as things stand now. If he's not going to be on the ballot next year, that would change things, but I don't see any way to force him out of office, and the Senate won't vote to remove him if he is impeached.

So, we're going to have to be focused on voting for the Democratic candidate who has the best chance to win against Trump. There will be arguments about who that candidate is, though.

[brewens]

6. I did it in Idaho yeas ago. I voted for Bill Sali in the republican primary, thinking helping

out the biggest whackjob in the race for our House seat might help. Of course he gets their nomination and wins! DOH! It could backfire on them.

[Voltaire2]

7. Is there any evidence of a primary outcome being significantly affected by this "problem"?

[MineralMan]

8. I don't know, frankly.

California, for example, has completely open primaries, with the top two vote-getters on the general election ballot, regardless of party affiliation.

That has led to some outcomes where two candidates of the same party ran against each other.

But, I don't know about the other issue. I have not seen it happen in any election in my own area. We have gotten rid of our caucus system for Presidential races. Now that was liable to be affected by turnout by people who supported a particular candidate. In 2016, Bernie Sanders won in the caucuses, although Hillary Clinton ended up on the General Election ballot.

However, that won't stop Republicans from attempting to use that method to influence the primaries. One problem, in states that don't register voters by party, is that you don't know the party affiliation of those who voted on each party's ballot. So, it would be very hard to tell whether the outcome was influenced by cross-voting.

So, I can't answer your question, except to say that I don't know.

[Voltaire2]

10. The specific 'problem' is 'tactical crossover voting' or "party raiding"

and there simply is no evidence that it has ever been effective.

If it ain't broke don't fix it.

[MarcA]

9. Can Super Delegates negate this if there is evidence for it?

Also, we need very large turnouts of real Dems in the Primaries to alleviate this.

[MineralMan]

11. Super Delegates have never decided who a nominee would be.

Never. Their influence is highly overstated.

They won't decide in 2020, either.

We definitely need high turnouts of Democrats in both the primaries and the general election. That is our safety net, and GOTV is the way we deploy it, if we're smart.

Will we be smart?

VOTE HIM OUT!