What's the rationale behind open primaries?

Question

Why should Democrats have any say in who the Republican candidate is, or vice versa? Shouldn't the members of a party be free to decide who their candidate is, without having to convince people in other parties?

ph_yo, that's not true--many states have open primaries, in which any voter of any party, or independents, may vote in each party's primary.

Answer 1

Open primaries are based on the opposite question: what's the rationale of political parties?

The rationale of political parties is to limit choices. If only moderate middle of the road candidates ran for office, your extreme conservatives and extreme liberals would have little influence on government. Splitting the electorate in two means the election becomes a choice between a very conservative candidate or a very liberal candidate. A small minority has its say in government increased even though it also means the other extreme has an increased say in government.

Open primaries say the heck with both extremes. It says what we really want is to have to choose between two candidates that everyone likes (i.e. - two middle of the road candidates that have little difference between them), not have to choose between extremes (i.e. - the majority hates both candidates and people vote for the candidate they hate least).

Answer 2

These are all of the states with an open primary system.

Alabama
Arkansas
Georgia
Hawaii
Idaho
Indiana
Iowa
Michigan
Minnesota
Mississippi
Missouri
Montana
North Dakota
South Carolina
Tennessee
Texas
Vermont
Virginia
Washington
Wisconsin

I think the system might allow a good outlet for Democrats in those states who just can't stomach the choice between Billary Clinton and Hussein Obama.

Answer 3

The only people who vote in primaries are registered party members.

Answer 4

I agree. Let each party decide its candidates.

If outsiders nominate the candidate, there's less assurance that he or she will reflect the views of the members of the party.