In Mississippi, it has been the custom for many white voters to vote for moderate/conservative Democrats running for local office at primary time, while still voting for GOP candidates for statewide and national office. A recent ruling by a federal court will make that impossible -- and likely put the GOP in the driver's seat in the state for decades to come.

A federal court ruling in June that forces voters to register by party could return Mississippi to the days of racially polarized politics, as many white Democrats warn that thousands of white voters will now opt definitively for the Republican Party.

Republican-leaning voters in Mississippi have long been able to cross party lines in primaries, voting for centrist Democrats in state and local races while staying loyal to Republican candidates in national races. But political experts here say that by limiting these voters — almost all of whom are white — to Republican primaries, the ruling will push centrist Democratic candidates to the other party, simply in order to survive.

Most black voters in Mississippi are Democrats, and black political leaders have been pushing for years to prevent crossover voting in Democratic primaries. Black leaders say they want to end precisely what white Democrats here seek to preserve, a strong moderate-to-conservative voice in the Democratic Party, and in the process to pick up more state and local posts.

The ruling last month by Judge W. Allen Pepper Jr. of Federal District Court allowed the legal remedy sought by black leaders. Judge Pepper said the Democratic Party in Mississippi had a right to “disassociate itself” from voters who were not genuine Democrats. Most other Southern states also have open primaries.

Now as i see this, there are a couple of outcomes likely to arise from this. First, there will be a surge in GOP registrations and in GOP officeholders. Second, it is likely that those voter purged by the Democrats will be a moderating force in GOP politics, while their loss by the Democrats will take the party further outside the mainstream. This can only bode well for the GOP -- even as the race-baiters in the Democratic Party gain more internal power, their broader appeal will be decreased.

And lest you think that I'm over-reacting with my use of the term "race-baiters", consider the sort of person who sought and supports teh ruling.

Black Democrats who pushed the lawsuit that led to the ruling seemed to view the potential hemorrhaging of white voters with equanimity. One of their leaders is Ike Brown, a state Democratic executive committee member who was recently found by another federal judge to have systematically violated voting rights of whites, through intimidation and other means, as party boss in his home county, Noxubee, in the eastern part of the state.

Welcoming Judge Pepper’s ruling, Mr. Brown said in an interview: “We are tired of being abused by the white Democrats in Mississippi. We have just had enough. We want the Republicans out of our party.”

Yeah, that's right -- a fellow convicted of implementing a reverse-"Jim Crow" voting system in his county to disenfranchise white voters finds this to be a positive development. Tell me -- if a GOP leader were to complain about the voting preferences and habits of white voters, how loud would the outrage be? And how quickly would he be driven from party office if convicted of voting rights violations?

Of course, this entire suit is driven by those who believe that the skin color of a candidate (or voter) is more important than the content of his/her character. If the Democrats again want to segregate their party, so be it -- but recognize please, that it is once again the Democrats demanding such segregation.

Posted by: Greg at 12:56 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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