In a country that regularly ignores all but the candidates from the two largest parties in their coverage, that shuts them out of the debates, we grasp it may be difficult for some Americans to grasp that the United States of America has many political parties that go far beyond Democratic and Republican.
But other parties do exist. They include the Green Party, the Communist Party, the Libetarian Party and many, many more. They should all hold their primaries and they should all be invited to the debates.
However, political party primaries are for member of that political party. Translation, Democratic party members are the ones who should be choosing Democratic candidates.
At times, the Obama campaign and its surrogates grasp that fact. Despite the reality that Obama has repeatedly sponsored "Be a Democrat for a Day" movements in various states to up his totals, when Rush Limbaugh encouraged Texas and Ohio Republicans to cross-over and vote for Hillary (they didn't), the Obama campaign had an uproar. You had some surrogates stating that Limbaugh had violated campaign rules.
Judging by that, even the Obama campaign grasps that Democratic primaries are for members of the Democratic Party.
But that's not who's voting for Obama (and often, filling out an entire ticket where Obama is their only vote in all the Democratic races listed). That's not who's endorsing Obama.
The buzzword last week was (shades of McPeak earlier) was "McCarthyism!" You had The Pooper Marc Cooper launch it, you had Bill Ayers brother echo it, you had Robert Parry disgrace himself to join in with me-too.
Here's reality for you, not only did people scream foul when Limbaugh encouraged Republicans to vote for Hillary, in 2004, the Democratic Party and Panhandle Media were all about outing Ralph Nader's Republican donors. Nader had more than Republicans donating to his campaign; however, the meme was Ralph is backed by Republicans!
That wasn't McCarthyism. By the non-standards of Robert Parry, it is, but in reality, it's just shining a light on who is supporting whom.
So who's supporting Barack Obama?
Democratic primaries are for Democratic Party members. They are not for members of the CP or the Socialist Workers Party, or anyone else. A Democratic primary is where Democrats select who they want to be their nominee.
On some level, closet cases grasp that which is why they pose as Democrats or hide behind the non-buzz term "progressive." If you're endorsing a Democratic Party candidate during a Democratic primary, you've gone public and the people have a right to know whether or not you're a Democrat.
So Communists who've lived their life in closets get no sympathy at all. And they have no protection from exposure. They have elected to butt into a primary of a political party they are no members of and, having done that, the American people have a right to know exactly what their political beliefs are. Don't like it? Don't make a public endorsement.
Non-Democrats injecting themselves into a Democratic primary via endorsements include, but are not limited to, Barbara Ehrenreich, Eve Ensler, Mark Rudd, Laura Flanders and Carl Davidson. Again, the complete list would be very, very long. These people need to butt the hell out of a Democratic primary because they are not Democrats. In addition, Matthew Rothschild is not a Democrat. While he has no written the words "I endorse Barack Obama," his non-stop 'coverage' skirts the law under which The Progressive operates and they may indeed lose their tax free status. (Especially when you combine his 'coverage' with Ruth Connif's.)
The general election is for all Americans. You can vote for whomever you want then. But when it comes to political party primaries, the members of that party are supposed to be selecting the nominee. Those who are not members of the Democratic Party but insist upon rushing in to endorse Obama (Frances Fox Piven, we mean you), have no claims of "privacy," have no right to charge "McCarthyism!" By endorsing during a political primary, the closet cases are implying that they are Democrats. Nothing could be futher from the truth and the public has a right to know.
We'll happily knock down the closet doors on every one of them from outside the Democratic Party who attempts to hijack the primary to a political party they are not a member of.
Fair is fair, C.I. noted Friday, pointing out that Democrats outed Nader's Republican supporters in 2004. By the same token, the closet cases should be outed. It's not McCarthyism. It's exposing fraud. We understand that a campaign whose news media contact is a Socialist would be worried about exposure, but those are the breaks. Get used to it.