They’re Getting Nervous

There’s been quite a bit of hate mail arriving at Rall Corporate World Headquarters. Republicans, it seems, are pretty upset about my suggestion that Democrats cancel the 2004 primaries to save money and build unity for the big push against the Generalissimo in November. “Undemocratic,” they call it. Just because Dean’s got the nomination locked up, they say, doesn’t mean that people shouldn’t have their chance to vote.

Gee, where were these democratic purists when the U.S. Supreme Court canceled the recount in Florida? Cheering that their guy got in.

Primaries aren’t electoral democracy, anyway. They’re merely a replacement of the old “smoke filled rooms” of yore, when party bosses directly selected the nominee. Truth is, several states have already abolished their primaries, replacing them with Iowa-style caucuses, to save money.

Besides, didn’t anybody notice? BUSH is running unopposed. Aren’t Republicans entitled to an alternative to their unelected incumbent ususper?

When Reagan fired the air traffic controllers in 1981, wags said that he only backed unions in Poland. In 2003, Republicans only support free elections for Democratic primaries.