How Healthcare Workers Can Help Stop Trump
Trump remains an existential threat to the integrity of the American political system. His willingness to disavow the results of a free and fair election has been on full display since November of 2020. Despite the fact that his corrosive influence looms over the country like a noxious thundercloud, he still remains the de facto leader of the party and frontrunner for the nomination in 2024.
Is there anything we can do to stop him? Let’s face it, if he wins the nomination, there are many reasons to fear he will be more difficult to defeat this time around: inflation, Biden’s age and lack of dynamism, and the Republican Party’s manipulation of voting rights since the last election.
It seems like a pretty dire set up, especially if you’re an Independent or card carrying Democrat. However, there is something we can do, and it’s actually pretty simple. Democrats can vote in the Republican presidential primary.
If we cast enough ballots in the primary, we might just tip the scales in favor of De Santos or another, unbeknownst candidate. Don’t worry, casting a ballot in the Republican primary won’t preclude you from voting for the Democratic nominee in the general election.
Grassroots efforts like these take time to materialize. Liberals and Independents need their most influential vocal chords to get warmed-up, in a hurry. Imagine, for example, if the Chicago Tribune ran a piece entitled, “Oprah Registers as a Republican: Plans to Sink Trump in Primary.” Her influence alone would garner immediate attention.
So then, what are the logistics involved? How can registered Democrats or Independents participate in a Republican primary? The answer is: the process varies from state to state.
In some states, a Democrat can simply show up at polling booths and vote in a Republican primary even if they are not affiliated with the party. These are referred to as open primary states. According to Ballotpedia,
“An open primary is any primary election in which a voter either does not have to formally affiliate with a political party in order to vote in its primary, or can declare his or her affiliation with a party at the polls on the day of the primary even if the voter was previously affiliated with a different party.”
Open primary elections are conducted in Ohio, Texas, Michigan, Illinois and Wisconsin, just to name a few. They all possess significant numbers of democratic voters and pledge delegates in a proportional manner at the RNC convention.
By contrast, some states conduct closed primary elections. Registered Democrats or Independents cannot just show up at a polling place and vote in the primary. In these closed primary states, a voter must affiliate formally with a political party in advance of the election date in order to participate in that party’s primary.
Closed primary states include: New York, Florida, California Washington, Maine, Oregon and Pennsylvania. If even a small fraction of the registered Democrats in these blue states register to vote in the Republican primary, it could have a huge impact on the state’s final delegate counts.
While most states conduct open or closed primary elections, there are a small number of states that employ a hybrid model. But again, even in these hybrid states, a voter can simply change their political party online, or through the mail.
The beauty of this strategy lies in its simplicity. Registered Democrats from Illinois can just show up at the polls and vote. New Yorkers and Californians can become eligible to vote with just a few clicks of a mouse. In fact, most states allow people that have previously registered with the DMV, to simply change party affiliation online. The website www.usa.gov/change-voter-registration provides clear instructions for how to change party affiliation in any state.
Why is nobody talking about this? Where are all the big blue megaphones? Why aren’t we encouraging our 18 year olds to create tic-toc videos that explain how their parents and grandparents can vote in the Republican primary?
There’s very little downside here. Most Democrats would agree that it’s more important to defend the country against Trump, than to choose between candidates running for lieutenant governor in the Democratic primary. And just to reiterate, even after a person changes their party affiliation to be eligible to vote in a closed state primary election, they can still vote for whomever they choose in the general election.
Let’s not forget that the Republicans are doing everything they can to disenfranchise unlikely GOP voters. Therefore, Democrats disguised as Republicans, will in all likelihood, have a much easier time casting their vote in the general election, if they show up at polling places in red states with proof of GOP registration in hand.
It’s time to play offense. We’ve got the numbers. Join me. Join the GOP.
Anyone but Trump.
Eric Dessner MD is an ophthalmologist in Brooklyn, NY.
His articles have been published in The Dallas Morning News, The Baltimore Sun and KevinMD.com.