North Carolina voters must wonder whether the people who run their major political parties have any sense.
The Republican Party may slap the faces of the state's independent voters while the Democratic Party just dismissed the good-government concerns of some of its members.
This weekend, the N.C. Republican Party Executive Committee is expected to vote on whether to exclude independents from GOP primaries.
Some in the party think that allowing independents to vote in its primaries has diluted the GOP's true conservative character. This move is part of a much larger nationwide Republican shift to purge moderates.
It has long been a political axiom that this country is ruled from the political middle. The center moves along with the political spectrum, going right, for example, in the 1970s and then back a bit to the left in the past several years. But the balance of power in our elections clearly rests not with a majority that is far right or far left but one which falls between those two poles.
If the executive committee excludes independents from GOP primaries, the party may get candidates more purely conservative -- at least according to the definition of "conservative" the committee uses.
But at the same time, the GOP will be telling independents that they aren't welcome. Moderates are invited to vote with the GOP only in general elections but certainly not welcome to run for office as a Republican or take part in party affairs.
That may not make any sense, but there is good news for Republicans. Their competition isn't any smarter.
A group called "Progressive Democrats of North Carolina" is very upset by the scandals surrounding former Gov. Mike Easley and his fund-raising. (Most voters share this concern.) So, these Democrats want their party to push for good government reforms, especially involving large contributions to the state parties.
This is a totally reasonable request, but the Democrats' executive director essentially told these voters to mind their own business.
After telling The Insider newsletter that the party already supports some of the suggested reforms, he added, "While we welcome and respect the opinions and constructive input of this organization, it is important to note that they are not affiliated with the North Carolina Democratic Party."
"Not affiliated?" Of course they are. They are registered to vote as Democrats.
Let's hope that the Republicans keep their primary open to unaffiliated, or independent, voters and that the Democrats both learn the definition of the word "unaffiliated" and reconsider a very reasonable request to clean up North Carolina fund raising.
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