Yikes: Republicans are urging their supporters to support Bernie Sanders in the Nevada Caucuses

[Cali_Democrat]

Nevada Republicans eye electoral mischief in Dem caucuses
By Steve Benen

<...>

Jon Ralston, an MSNBC political analyst and influential voice in Nevada media, this week introduced a possible wrinkle. In order to participate in the Democratic caucuses tomorrow, a Nevadan has to be a registered Democratic voter. That may sound straightforward, but the details open the door to mischief. As Ralston explained earlier this week:

Republicans closed their registration rolls on Feb. 13, and that is the file that will be used on Feb. 23. Democrats are allowing same-day registration on Saturday.

So: A Republican registered by Feb. 13 could show up at a Democratic caucus site on Saturday, switch to the Democratic Party, vote and then still participate on Tuesday because the party switch would not show up on the GOP caucus rolls.

Clark County Voter Registrar Joe Gloria confirmed Monday that this could happen. And he also pointed out that the Republican-become-Democrat could switch back to the GOP in time to vote in the June primary.

<...>

Ralston noted yesterday that “organized” Republican efforts to intervene in the Democratic contest are now underway. This includes College Republicans urging members to support the “socialist” in order to help the GOP candidate “prevail” in November, and coincided with work from a prominent conservative activist in Nevada encouraging Republicans to intervene with a similar message.

Read more:

http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/nevada-republicans-eye-electoral-mischief-dem-caucuses

[PonyUp]

1. So if Sanders wins, it's because the repuglys voted for him. Got it. n/t

[treestar]

48. We've been told the reason he can better beat the R candidate in the fall

is that he will attract more Republicans.

[liberal N proud]

2. The republicans are the ones who cry voter fraud all the time because...

They are the ones who commit it the most.

I am sure the BS-bros are all good with this though! As this thread will surely prove..

[Sheepshank]

4. It's been a known for some time...just waiting for the Bernie Supporters to finally admit

that it will not neccesssarily be the will of the people wanting Bernie to be President (that gets him through the Primaries). It's the will of the corrupt Republicans that are attempting to put Bernie as the Dem Candidate in the GE.

[earthshine]

16. Will of the people? Perhaps there needs to be another discussion about superdelegates.

Read it and weep. Hillary is in the pocket of lobbyists -- period.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1017331184

But, I agree it's disgusting that Nevada allows this cross-party primarying, nonsense.

[seaotter]

17. Rules are rules, right Hillary ?

"If you don't like the rules......."

[liberal N proud]

43. Like I said this thread demonstrates where the BS-Bros stand

They will take whatever they can to beat Hillary.

[frylock]

57. Like superdelegates..

amirite?

[seaotter]

3. Already setting up excuses for her big loss?

Good job!

[tk2kewl]

7. always a victim of something

other than her own positions

[guillaumeb]

34. The worst type of victimization.

Very nicely put.

[NurseJackie]

5. And there you have it! The GOP wants the WEAKEST candidate ...

... in the general election. Told ya so!

[seaotter]

11. It's three dimensional chess, not checkers.

It's the oil' switcheroo!

[noretreatnosurrender]

18. lol

They just want to create mischief. Did you forget that Limbaugh asked Republicans to vote for your candidate in 2008?

[frylock]

58. Just like in 2008 when the GOP wanted to run against Obama..

oh noes!!!

[MohRokTah]

6. Clinton volunteers have been instruccted to record each Republican.

These records will then be checked against the Republican records when they hold their caucuses.

Anybody who turns around and participates in the GOP caucus will be in violation of rules they have to sign off on.

Results CAN BE CHANGED if people participate in both. It's happened before in Nevada.

IT would behoove both campaigns to watch this carefully as this is not a secret ballot. Neither campaign is under any obligation to challenge caucus participants who vote for their candidate.

[seaotter]

8. Tipping at windmills, as usual.

The fear is thick, the desperation is putrid.

[MohRokTah]

21. Nope, prior experience

It would behoove the Sanders campaign to do the same because the Clinton campaign is under no obligation to challenge Republicans who support her Saturday then turn around and participate in the GOP caucus.

Republicans are free to participate in the Democratic Caucus, but then they CANNOT participate in the GOP caucus afterwards under the rules and under the rules their participation CAN be challenged. Once it is shown they participated in both Caucuses, their vote is thrown out. If enough votes are thrown out, the results ARE changed under the rules.

People who spout off nonsense in internet forums should familiarize themselves with the rules before doing so. Hillary's win in Nevada became larger after the fact in 2008 because the results were changed after Republicans were challenged and their votes thrown out.

[Motown_Johnny]

31. Have you been watching reruns again?

It would behoove you to speak nicely.

[MohRokTah]

38. I have participated in a variety of Democratic primaries and caucuses for more than three decades.

[Motown_Johnny]

40. I was addressing your use of the word "behoove" twice in two posts.

It was snark.

[CentralMass]

24. Well her campaign does have real expertise in the area of violating caucus rules.

[Motown_Johnny]

27. Wouldn't it be the second vote that might be changed?

Since the Democrats are going first, shouldn't that be the vote that counts? They would be eligible to caucus since they have not participated in another caucus yet.

It would be the Republicans that would need to check the eligibility of those participating in their caucus and see who had disqualified themselves by participating in the earlier caucus.

Can you present some scenario where their participating in both could disqualify them from the first one?

[MohRokTah]

32. That decisiion is up to the Republcans. This is about Democratic PArty rules and caucus participatio

The Democrats have every right to invalidate the vote of anybody challenged for participating in both caucuses after the GOP caucus is held.

[Motown_Johnny]

39. Can you please provide a link?

I don't see anything which might indicate that the first caucus they participate in could be invalidated.



http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/nevada-college-republicans-democratic_us_56c674f5e4b041136f168b3a


^snip^

University of Nevada, Reno, College Republicans told members in a statement to "capitalize on, if they see fit to," rules that would let them participate in the Democratic caucus on Saturday -- and in the Republican caucus on Tuesday.

"Asking individuals to participate in both is not a normal activity but it is also not illegal; nobody will get arrested," Miranda Hoover, president of the College Republicans chapter, said in a statement. "I am hopeful that the loophole will be fixed in 2020 and while I will neither endorse nor demean the act of Republicans taking part in both caucuses, but it is important for this issue to be recognized."

The group cited an article by political columnist Jon Ralston that explains the rule quirk. A person who registered as a Republican by Feb. 13 could show up at a Democratic caucus on Saturday, switch party allegiance and participate -- and still take part in Tuesday's GOP caucus. Democrats allow same-day registration; Republicans use voter rolls with the Feb. 13 cutoff, so a switch to the Democratic side this weekend wouldn't affect the ability to participate in the GOP caucus, according to Ralston's article.

[kristopher]

29. That is a good approach if it's effective. I'm sure Bernie approves.

I can say that with confidence because he is 100% about integrity and fairness.

Can you say that about Hillary?

[MohRokTah]

33. From what I read eariler, the Sanders campaign is preparing to do the same.

Their problem is Hillary's campaign has three volunteers for every one of theirs. They may not be able to cover every precinct like Hillary's campaign can.

[Chichiri]

42. Is there a source for that?

That would be a great load off our mind.

[frylock]

59. One size fits all.

[morningfog]

10. Thanks for the help!

[HooptieWagon]

12. Camp Weathervane has no problem with "the ends justify the means",...

So why should anyone be upset if republicans help Sanders due to Nevada Dem Party rules?

[berningman]

15. my guess is many republicans appreciate sanders positions as well.

[litlbilly]

30. He gets 25% of the repub votes in VT, so it stands to reason he could get that in the GE.

[HooptieWagon]

35. I know a few leaning Sanders.

Though they admit they don't favor his policy positions, they think he's the only honest candidate from both parties, and agree with him that DC corruption needs to be cleaned up. If they're planning to vote in both primaries, that's not right...but again, that's not Sanders problem it's the Nev Dem Party that opened that can of worms. Given the dirty politics and rigging the nomination by the Clinton campaign, I'm not going to be upset over a handfull of republicans trying to vote her down.

[berningman]

13. better get that meme off the ground early camp weathervane

looks like another ugly loss heading your way.

[HooptieWagon]

37. Getting their excuses lined up.

[TheBlackAdder]

14. Good. The more Republicans are exposed, then more of them will convert to a liberalist ideology! nt

[whatchamacallit]

19. U MAD THO?

[snooper2]

20. Hmm, I seem to remember Rush Limpnuts telling people to vote for Clinton to keep chaos in Dem party

now...

How did that end up working out

[Cali_Democrat]

22. This is true. I believe it was called operation chaos

I supported Obama and Limbaugh urged his supporters to vote for Hillary.

Now I support Hillary and Republicans are urging their followers to vote for Bernie.

I always seem to end up on the opposite side of what the GOP wants and I consider that to be a good thing.

[Motown_Johnny]

23. Just Hillary's camp trying to delegitimize a Sanders victory.

They really are getting desperate.

[Bobbie Jo]

25. Of course they are.

We've been saying this for MONTHS.

The GOP wants to run against him in the GE, of course they do.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

26. Good!

[litlbilly]

28. So youre setting up the conspiracy for when Hillary gets beat in NV. Wow, just wow...

[SoLeftIAmRight]

36. They are not very smart.

...

[DesertRat]

41. This doesn't surprise me at all

[Downtown Hound]

44. LOL. Poll after poll has shown Bernie trouncing ALL Republicans

Last edited Fri Feb 19, 2016, 07:15 PM - Edit history (1)

It would be utterly hilarious if they themselves helped that happen just because they live in an alternate reality where they think all they have to do is shout, "SOCIALIST" at their opponents and they will win. They either must not be paying attention or they don't believe the polls. I seem to remember they didn't believe the polls in 2012 either. Didn't turn out too well for them.

[Admiral Loinpresser]

46. ^^THIS^^ n/t

[azurnoir]

45. why yes according to former Clinton intern Steve Benen

things must be getting 'sweaty' in NV

[Karmadillo]

47. Clinton's internal polling must not be looking too good.

[workinclasszero]

49. Republicans are helping the weakest candidate

They know Bernie would be a landslide loser against whatever fascist they put up in the GE.

[jfern]

50. Just ignore every general election poll

[Gothmog]

51. Hypothetical match up polls are worthless and should not be relied for anything

Here is a good thread talking about these polls http://www.democraticunderground.com/12511038010

The reliance on these polls by Sanders supporters amuse me. http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/harrys-guide-to-2016-election-polls/

Ignore hypothetical matchups in primary season – they also measure nothing. General election polls before and during the primary season have a very wide margin of error. That’s especially the case for candidates who aren’t even in the race and therefore haven’t been treated to the onslaught of skeptical media coverage usually associated with being the candidate.

Sanders supporters have to rely on these worthless polls because it is clear that Sanders is not viable in a general election where the Kochs will be spending $887 million and the RNC candidate may spend an additional billion dollars.

No one should rely on hypo match up type polls in selecting a nominee at this stage of the race.

[jfern]

55. 538 isn't a god

And Hillary has net favorables of -21, I don't think anyone has ever won a Presidential election with those kind of ratings.

[Gothmog]

52. Bernie Sanders says he polls better against GOP candidates than Hillary Clinton

While I still think that these polls are worthless, I am amused to see that Sanders was found to be misrepresenting these polls and that in fact his claim is not true http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2016/jan/26/bernie-s/bernie-sanders-says-he-polls-better-against-gop-ca/

In the runup to the Iowa caucus, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders has repeatedly said he has a better chance of beating the eventual Republican nominee in the Nov. 8 general election than fellow Democratic rival Hillary Clinton.

"Almost all of the polls that -- and polls are polls, they go up, they go down -- but almost all of the polls that have come out suggest that I am a much stronger candidate against the Republicans than is Hillary Clinton," he told voters during a Jan. 19 town hall meeting in Underwood, Iowa.

We took a look at the various national surveys, as compiled by RealClearPolitics and PollingReport.com to see how that assertion stacks up against the data.....

Our ruling

Sanders said, "Almost all of the polls that have come out suggest that I am a much stronger candidate against the Republicans than is Hillary Clinton."

The NBC News/Wall Street Journal national poll released before Sanders' statement supports his claim for Trump, but it has no data against Cruz or Rubio. Earlier polls say he doesn't outperform Clinton at all against Cruz, Rubio or Bush, and the narrow races combined with the margins of error make his contention even more dubious.

Beating Clinton in only two of eight hypothetical matchups is far from "almost all."

The statement is not accurate, so we rate it False.

[jfern]

56. The statement is clearly true from the polls

Politifact isn't the ultimate determiner of truth when they are pants on fire lying.

[Gothmog]

53. Democrats would be insane to nominate Sanders

Dana Milbank has some good comments on general election match up polls https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/democrats-would-be-insane-to-nominate-bernie-sanders/2016/01/26/0590e624-c472-11e5-a4aa-f25866ba0dc6_story.html?hpid=hp_opinions-for-wide-side_opinion-card-a%3Ahomepage%2Fstory

Sanders and his supporters boast of polls showing him, on average, matching up slightly better against Trump than Clinton does. But those matchups are misleading: Opponents have been attacking and defining Clinton for a quarter- century, but nobody has really gone to work yet on demonizing Sanders.

Watching Sanders at Monday night’s Democratic presidential forum in Des Moines, I imagined how Trump — or another Republican nominee — would disembowel the relatively unknown Vermonter.

The first questioner from the audience asked Sanders to explain why he embraces the “socialist” label and requested that Sanders define it “so that it doesn’t concern the rest of us citizens.”

Sanders, explaining that much of what he proposes is happening in Scandinavia and Germany (a concept that itself alarms Americans who don’t want to be like socialized Europe), answered vaguely: “Creating a government that works for all of us, not just a handful of people on the top — that’s my definition of democratic socialism.”

But that’s not how Republicans will define socialism — and they’ll have the dictionary on their side. They’ll portray Sanders as one who wants the government to own and control major industries and the means of production and distribution of goods. They’ll say he wants to take away private property. That wouldn’t be fair, but it would be easy. Socialists don’t win national elections in the United States .

Sanders on Monday night also admitted he would seek massive tax increases — “one of the biggest tax hikes in history,” as moderator Chris Cuomo put it — to expand Medicare to all. Sanders, this time making a comparison with Britain and France, allowed that “hypothetically, you’re going to pay $5,000 more in taxes,” and declared, “W e will raise taxes, yes we will.” He said this would be offset by lower health-insurance premiums and protested that “it’s demagogic to say, oh, you’re paying more in taxes.”

Well, yes — and Trump is a demagogue.

Sanders also made clear he would be happy to identify Democrats as the party of big government and of wealth redistribution. When Cuomo said Sanders seemed to be saying he would grow government “bigger than ever,” Sanders didn’t quarrel, saying, “P eople want to criticize me, okay,” and “F ine, if that’s the criticism, I accept it.”

Sanders accepts it, but are Democrats ready to accept ownership of socialism, massive tax increases and a dramatic expansion of government? If so, they will lose.

Match up polls are worthless because these polls do not measure what would happen to Sanders in a general election where Sanders is very vulnerable to negative ads.

[Gothmog]

54. Why are College republicans voting for Sanders in the Nevada Caucuses???

The Nevada college republicans are going to cheat and vote in the Democratic caucuses for Sanders because he is the weakest possible Democratic nominee http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/nevada-republicans-eye-electoral-mischief-dem-caucuses

Ralston noted yesterday that “organized” Republican efforts to intervene in the Democratic contest are now underway. This includes College Republicans urging members to support the “socialist” in order to help the GOP candidate “prevail” in November, and coincided with work from a prominent conservative activist in Nevada encouraging Republicans to intervene with a similar message.

Here is the flyer that the Nevada college republicans are using to encourage Nevada college republicans to vote for the socialist



Again and again, it is clear that the GOP and their affiliates want Sanders to be the nominee because he is the weakest possible nominee

[frylock]

60. The pants-shitting is positively palpable.

I'm guessing this points to a solid Sanders victory in NV. I got a bernin feeling deep inside of me.

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

61. The party that screams voter fraud now encourages it.

[workinclasszero]

62. The Koch bros approve

Billionaire Charles Koch: I agree with Sanders

http://www.democraticunderground.com/12511282742

[Skwmom]

63. Trying to energize Hillary voters. n/t