How did you become politicized?

Not for a while.

I

I didn't go back to read your post, Miss Olga, but i recall that you mentioned Gough Whitlam. Did people know at that time that the CIA was involved? Could you expand on your reaction to Kerr's dismissal of Whitlam?

I should add that in the United States, among the "radical element," we thought the CIA was behind it--but then, we thought the CIA was behind everything we didn't like in the world.

Well, here in Germany, you are registered automatically either at the age of 16 or 18 (depending on elections).

In my opinion, you only get 'political influence' when you are a member of a political party.

I'd really liked to join the UK's Labour Party, some years ago. But they don't allow EU-citizens to become members (only citizens of the UK ... and Ireland can be members).
So I joined the Fabian Society which is closely connected to Labour.

There was speculation about the CIA's involvement in the coup (Whitlam government Dismissal 1975) on the part of the left in Australia, too, Setanta.

Honestly, I have never been very political. I have friends that sit far left and far right. We often go out to coffee and I sit listening to the awful coffee house music as they will sit there and yell over some seemingly important bill or something that is going on.

I should be more aware, but I can never seem to get interested. I find politics to be full of lies and, though it says much about me, I do not feel the want to dig through all the information to get to the heart of that matter.

Don't get me wrong. I have my stance on things. And I will speak my mind when asked. Though I rarely have any information to back up my decisions on why I stand where I do, other then the fact that the opposition is not where I want to be.

I have been involved in the war. It is something that effects me personally. I can not tell you how many debates I have listened to the subject of this. Though I rarely speak out one way or another because to me it cheapens the death of my friends and those who have died on both sides. People tell me all the time that I should be upset that my friends died for a worthless cause, and in all honesty I am more upset that someone would say that about someone's death so I would rather keep my mouth closed on the issue.

As I said I have my on view on things, I have never been one to take up a picket, or to start a revolt. I never thought I would be one to pick up a gun and go off to war either, mind you. But as I have found out many times in life, the hand you are dealt and the hand you were hoping for do not always co-inside with each other. I think I keep my political views to myself because there are far enough people out there shouting and screaming over it all that I would rather not cloud the air any more and keep those who are confused from hearing one more voice to further there confusion.

I agree...if I lived in a state with open primaries, I would most likely have registered as Independent myself. It just doesn't make any sense to do that here.

I suppose the theory behind closed primaries is that members of a party should have the right to directly determine that party's candidate by voting. That sounds good in theory, but it doesn't always work in practice. For instance, people who are registered in one party but intend to vote for the other party in the general election often use their vote in a closed primary to choose the candidate most likely to lose the general election. It can get fairly comical at times.

Oh. Does registering as a Democrat, say, make you a member of the Democratic Party? In Germany, joining a party is more like joining a club. There's an application (which can theoretically be rejected though in practice it's just a formality), there are membership dues, and all that. Don't you have that in America? If registration automatically makes you a party member, closed primaries do make sense for me.

Yes, registering in a particular political party makes you a member of that party. No further action is necessary.

It does NOT, however, prevent you from voting for candidates in other parties in open elections. There is a lot of "cross-voting."

I'm trying to figure out what the purpose is in the German system. Do you have to be a "member of the party" to be a candidate, to participate in nominating candidates, or other privileges?

Interesting. So if I have citizenship in 2012, maybe I'll register as an Independent, go to the Republican primary, and vote for Sarah Palin. It's the best I can do for Obama in the blue state of New Jersey.

So, you know for a fact that New Jersey requires registration by party affiliation? Not all states do, you know.

If New Jersey has closed primaries (and I think they do), you'll have to register as Republican to vote for Sarah. You can always change it later.

The President and I appreciate the sentiment, Thomas, ...but the possibility exists that if enough people do that, she could get elected. <gasp!> Actually...hmmm.... that could explain a few things.

It's completely different in Germany, because we don't directly elect our president. And it wouldn't matter if we did, because our president is just a representative figurehead, much like the queen of England. The leader of the executive in Germany is the Bundeskanzler, comparable to the English prime minister. He is elected by the Bundestag, our House of Representatives. (Our parliament also has a second chamber, the Bundesrat. Its members are appointed by state governors, much as American Senators used to be before the 17th Amendment. The Bundesrat has no vote in the election of the chancellor.)

As far as the law is concerned, the Bundeskanzler doesn't have to belong to any party. But in practice of course, he will always belong to one of the two big parties represented in the Bundestag.

The first hit in my Google search for "open closed primaries" leads me to FairVote.org, which lists all 50 states and gives a short description of the voting progress. The entry for New Jersey reads as follows:

I guess that to vote for Sarah, I can be an Independent, but can't be a Democrat.

What do you mean by "requires registration by party affiliation"? That registering as an Independent is not an option? You can register as an Independent in New Jersey.

Sounds like NJ has more of a 'semi-open' primary, then.

Interesting factoid from your link...if you live in North Dakota you don't have to register at all...just live there for a month.

Not really: according to Article 51 (1) Basic Law ('Grundgesetz'), The Bundesrat shall consist of members of the Land governments, which appoint and recall them. Other members of those governments may serve as alternates.

Okay, membership in the state government is an extra restraint that the American Senate never had.

At least that's the easiest way to get elected - however, she/he mustn't been a mamber of the Bundestag. (We had had one example in our history, a Swabian ...)