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Independents and Primary Voting

The issue of independents voting in primaries comes around every four years for both the Democrats and Republicans, nothing new, except that this year it seems to be on the lips of just about every political talking head in the media, and in the copy of many a political columnist and pundit. What I'm hearing in large part, besides the difference the independent vote may, or can make, is the chastising of states that don't allow independents to vote in their primaries. Popular CNN political commentator and talk show host, Lou Dobbs, appears even to be a bit outraged over the matter. My question to all of them is, why?

Their argument appears to be that states with closed primaries in which only those registered with a particular political party can join together in the selection of their party's candidate to put forth in an upcoming general election are wrong, and worse, doing a grievous injustice to those registered as independents. Nothing could be further from the truth. Primaries are not general elections. Primaries are the specific selection processes that each party's membership goes through to decide the candidate they want representing them in the general election.

If a person is not a member of a party, why in the world would anyone feel it's unjust not to let them vote in the party's selection process, anymore than it would be to not let them have a say in the selection of the party's officials? Political parties are organizations, or associations, pick the term you believe best suits, go so far as to call them clubs if you like. But whatever you call them, they are secular by nature and design, you need be a member to have your say in party matters. In this respect they're no different from a business. If I don't hold stock in IBM, I don't get to sit in a shareholder's meeting and vote for the company's officers. With this scenario as an example, America is the company, the parties select their candidates for an upcoming general election for all the stockholders (citizens) to vote for who their officers will be to run the business of America.

I would hope, though I realize it's not always the case, that members of their parties have taken due time and consideration in joining their party. Political parties are, overall, not about specific candidates, that's left to the membership to choose. Political parties are about their platform, who the party is as a whole, what it stands for. This lets members, or potential members,

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