Should Democrats in ruby red Republican states change their party

[Proud liberal 80]

In ruby red states like Arkansas, Mississippi, Tennessee, where a Democrat isn’t going to win a general election, maybe it’s best to vote in the Republican primary to at least get the saner of the Republican candidates...I say that because of the ultra right wing Senators who have been elected lately and because of people like Huckabee-Sanders who is now running for governor of Arkansas

Edit - I feel like Democrats can have more of a say this way

[Turin_C3PO]

1. It's a thought.

Naturally, I’d rather have Democrats but maybe infiltrating the Republican Party will make them saner.

[Proud liberal 80]

2. And I am not talking about infiltrating

Like Limbaugh instructed his listeners to do in the Democratic primary to vote for the candidate who would lose in the general....but more like conceding that the Republicans will win win the general and picking the least evil of the bunch

[Demsrule86]

7. No, states like Mississippi with proper election laws could go for us. They are a majority Black

state. No matter what any Republican regardless of how far right they are is a warm body and gives them the majority so their far right agenda will prevail. We need a 50 state solution and a grass roots progressive movement based on local issues.

[Turin_C3PO]

8. That's true.

I think states like MS and SC could go blue in the future if we can decrease the voter suppression in those states. I know it sounds crazy but I also think we could get West Virginia back at some point in the future. They have a history of supporting unions, Democrats, and economic liberalism in general. Montana might go blue at some point too. But it’s all going to take a lot of work and us accepting that maybe moderate Dems will win those states. You live in Ohio, right? Do you think we can regain ground there?

[Mariana]

17. Mississippi is not a majority Black state.

The District of Columbia has an African American majority, but no state does.

[Demsrule86]

18. Yes it is.

[Mariana]

20. In the real world, less than 40% is not a majority.

https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/MS

[Demsrule86]

21. We all know the Census isn't accurate for Black voters...but it is a large Black population no matte

how you look at it and growing. We should not cede any state to the GOP anyway. If we had done this, we would not have Virginia, Colorada, Arizona, or Georgia etc.

[Mariana]

36. The Census isn't off by 12+ points.

Have you found even a single source that says Mississippi is a majority Black state? You won't, because it isn't.

The big problem with winning over Mississippi isn't that it's majority white, but that a huge proportion of those whites are Evangelical Christians. We all know how white Evangelical Christians vote.

[Klaralven]

3. Some red state have open primaries. Do voters vote strategically there?

Alabama

Michigan

Montana

Vermont

Arkansas

Minnesota

North Dakota

Virginia

Georgia

Mississippi

South Carolina

Wisconsin

Hawaii

Missouri

Texas

[2naSalit]

25. Yes.

[Klaralven]

32. Do Democrats voting in Republican primaries vote for the least or most conservative candidate

The least conservative candidate may be a good choice if better government by Republicans is desired.

The most conservative candidate may be a good choice if there is a possibility that a Democratic candidate can win in the general.

[2naSalit]

33. Usually they vote for least likely to win...

diluting the favorite's count.

[Demsrule86]

4. No, we need to reach out in all 50 states.

[Rizen]

5. I thought Democrats wouldn't win in Georgia but looked what happened.

I'm not saying Dems will win in the states you mentioned but rather there are political shifts that we have to have a presence to take advantage of in the future. Besides, saying the "Saner of the Republicans" is like saying I'm going to eat the less rotten of these six month old fruits.

[Proud liberal 80]

10. Georgia was never like aforementioned states

And has been within arms reach for Democrats

[Rizen]

13. When Biden won Georgia...

Georgia hadn’t voted for a Democratic presidential candidate since Bill Clinton in 1992. And like I said, I don't think Dems will win in the mentioned states but we need to consider political shifts in the future. You never know what's going to happen with demographic factors due to things like climate change, immigration etc. Bottom line, if there is a democratic presence there they need to be represented.

[Proud liberal 80]

27. Georgia has always been single digits since then

Other than 2004, those other states have been double digit Republican victories

[obnoxiousdrunk]

6. No.

[Tanuki]

9. Fuck no. I can't express how offensive and upsetting this is. I grew up

in West Virginia and now live in Tennessee. I have never voted for a goddamned fucking Republican in my life and sure as hell don't intend to start now, when they have gone full-on fascist. I also don't come to a Democratic discussion board to be urged to vote for a fucking Republican for any reason whatsoever. My vote is sacred to me. For me this would be like lying under oath, but worse. I realize you think you are being constructive with this suggestion but it is utterly demoralizing and intolerable.

[Proud liberal 80]

11. My apologies

It’s just frustrating that in some of these states winning the Republican primary is essentially winning the general election. And that tends to lead to whoever is the most right wing is the winner.

Edit - and if I do remember right, a whole bunch of black people voted in the Republican primary in Mississippi a few years back for Thad Cochran so that his right wing opponent wouldn’t win.

[Demsrule86]

19. And it doesn't matter because when they have a majority the right wing is always in charge.

[MOMFUDSKI]

12. I did that

here in Florida years back. One must be registered the correct party to vote in the primaries. So, as a 'repub' I was able to vote Gingrich who was the least likely to win that primary and have one less vote for the favorite who I can't quite remember who that was. I ultimately went back to Dem but would do it again if needs be. I didn't do it to get the "saner" repub (there IS no such thing) to win but to give the favorite one less vote in my county. Doesn't take much to amuse me.

[LiberalArkie]

14. In Arkansas, if you register as Independent, you can vote in either primary.

[Proud liberal 80]

15. Are you registered as a independent for that reason

And if so do you vote in Republican primaries?

[LiberalArkie]

16. When I first registered to vote, the Democratic Party was the conservative one, and I

did not feel right being the party of the KKK. There really wasn't a Republican Party until Winthrop Rockefeller came down from NYC and was a liberal as the Republicans were then. I wasn't old enough to vote yet so I just went Independent. It was come in handy to vote for a less than KKK Republican. Just hoping.

[Demsrule86]

23. The Democratic Party was not the KKK party and Nixon's southern strategy

caused unrepentant racists to leave the party in droves.

'On June 10, a coalition of 27 Republicans and 44 Democrats ended the filibuster when the Senate voted 71 to 29 for cloture, thereby limiting further debate. This marked the first time in its history that the Senate voted to end debate on a civil rights bill.'

Without Democrats, the civil rights bill would not have passed...some GOP types voted for it but a Democratic President, Johnson and Democrats in the Senate including one wheeled in to the chamber in wheelchair...he suffered from a brain tumor vote for the bill and it is time for a new one.

[LiberalArkie]

39. Ok, we had a single party state. There were no progressives, liberals only the Lester Maddox,

George Wallace and our governor Orval Faubus who stood in the doors of Central Hight School to deny the U,S. Marshals to escort the Little Rock 9. Our Democatic party obviously was not yours. Our Democratic Party was also the party of Huey Long and James Daley.

Remember the lady from Eons ago that refused the two gay men in Kentucky to get married, She was a Democratic Party Office holder.

[Tarc]

22. "red states like Arkansas, Mississippi, Tennessee, where a Democrat isn't going to win..."

Georgia says hello.

[Proud liberal 80]

26. Georgia hasn't been as ruby red as those state and has been within reach

Arkansas presidential election results last 3
2020 R 62 - D 34
2016 R 60 - D 33
2012 R 61 - D 37
2008 R 59 - 39

Mississippi
R 58 - D 41
R 58 - D 40
R 55 - D 43
R 56 - D 43

Tennessee
R 61 - D 37
R 61 - D 35
R 59 - D 39
R 57 - D 41

Georgia
D 49.5 R 49
R 50 - D 45
R 53 - D 45
R 52 - D 47

[Warren_Pointe]

24. For decades in Arkansas, it was the other way.

The winner of the Democratic primary would often run unopposed.

[Proud liberal 80]

28. True

Same for all the other southern states....ironically, voters in those states have switched parties but not ideologies...they are still voting for the Conservative party.

[greenjar_01]

29. Now this poster is promoting conversion to Republican Party

How long, DU?

[ShazzieB]

34. How long till what?

[Proud liberal 80]

35. I guess he thinks I should be banned

He is saying that in his mind I am really a right wing troll infiltrating this site...which I am not....rolling eyes, sigh

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

30. No. Absolutely not.

For one thing, it artificially inflates Republican registrations, and so Democrats who might otherwise consider running for a state or local office will conclude they can't possibly win, don't run, and guess what? The Republican is unopposed.

I used to live in Kansas, and about half the people I knew who were actually Dems would register Republican so as to vote in the Republican primaries. And about half of them would vote for the more extreme candidate on the theory that then a challenging Democrat could win, and the other half would vote for the more moderate candidate figuring they could at least live with that one. In the end, so far as I could tell, the one set of votes cancelled the other. And meanwhile, the Democratic Party had a hard time convincing potential candidates to run. I constantly said, "Let the Republicans take care of their own. We want to nurture Democrats."

[Proud liberal 80]

31. Good counterpoints

Edit - I like when people who disagree with me respond with actual points and facts instead of acting pompous, passive aggressive or sarcastic.

[ooky]

37. I remained "unaffiliated" for years in North Carolina for this reason

to vote in GOP primaries for moderate Republican Walter Jones against his more radical opponents. He often voted with Democrats so it paid dividends. Of course, he died, and we got a Trumper we will probably never get rid of now, so it no longer matters and I've officially changed over to the Democratic Party now. But if you have a Walter Jones type incumbent and you are in a red district it might make sense.

[Proud liberal 80]

38. Thanks

Your post is basically the example I was thinking about