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> the population (which, polling tells us, are all in line with the Democrat platform) In Arkansas? Citation, please. Here, Democrats have to be very careful

> the population (which, polling tells us, are all in line with the Democrat platform) In Arkansas? Citation, please. Here, Democrats have to be very careful not to align themselves too closely with the social platform of the DNC, while Republicans have to dance around the issue of farm subsidies. > their [Republicans] unpopular ideas Yeah... about that. In Arkansas, our incumbent GOP governor has a single primary challenger - Jan Morgan. Morgan is best known for running a shooting range and vocally defending it as a "Muslim Free Zone". Here are her words: http://janmorganmedia.com/2014/09/business-muslim-free-zone/ http://janmorganmedia.com/2014/09/business-muslim-free-zone/ Arkansas is moving to the right, not to the left. I have no doubt that your assessment accurately reflects the realities of the areas around most HN readers, but it's dramatically incorrect when applied to this state. For what it's worth, I've not seen any polling to know for sure how Morgan is doing against Hutchinson, but the impression I have is that she will lose to him but that his public stance will shift further to the right in response to her primary challenge. Some fairly clear signs of that started to manifest around the first of this year: http://www.guns.com/2017/12/29/arkansas-governor-weighs-in-on-open-carry-in-the-state/ http://www.guns.com/2017/12/29/arkansas-governor-weighs-in-o...

ZeroGravitas 9y ago
I was talking about the nation as a whole. Arkansas accounts for about 1% of that population but even there I think my point holds true. There's measures and processes that can ensure politics better reflects the will of the people. I would guess that in Arkansas, like many other places, it's Republican's who are fighting against these things, and Democrats that are fighting for them. Why? Because the Democrats know that in general, the people support their policies, and the Republicans know in general, the people don't support theirs. I just googled "Arkansas Voter Suppression" and found this recent story: http://fortune.com/2017/03/25/arkansas-voter-id-law/ http://fortune.com/2017/03/25/arkansas-voter-id-law/ "Arkansas’ governor signed a measure Friday requiring voters to show photo identification before casting a ballot, reinstating a voter ID law that was struck down by the state’s highest court more than two years ago. ... The American Civil Liberties Union, which filed the lawsuit that led to the previous law being stricken, said the latest measure raises the same concerns that voters will be disenfranchised. Holly Dickson, legal director for the ACLU of Arkansas, said the sworn statement provision in the latest law is an improvement but that the measure still will risk hurting voters. “Of course we have concerns that voter ID is going to do harm because that’s been Arkansas’ experience so far with voter ID,” Dickson said." Extreme primary challenges like you mention only really have an effect in first-past-the-post systems, because the party thinks it can win with 30% of the vote and has no need to reach across the aisle to work with the other 70% if they can get a small group motivated enough to vote. Obviously targetted voter suppression makes this even easier, while moves to require votes, or just make it easier to vote complicate it.

ZeroGravitas 9y ago

I was talking about the nation as a whole. Arkansas accounts for about 1% of that population but even there I think my point holds true. There's measures and processes that can ensure politics better reflects the will of the people. I would guess that in Arkansas, like many other places, it's Republican's who are fighting against these things, and Democrats that are fighting for them. Why? Because the Democrats know that in general, the people support their policies, and the Republicans know in general, the people don't support theirs. I just googled "Arkansas Voter Suppression" and found this recent story: http://fortune.com/2017/03/25/arkansas-voter-id-law/ http://fortune.com/2017/03/25/arkansas-voter-id-law/ "Arkansas’ governor signed a measure Friday requiring voters to show photo identification before casting a ballot, reinstating a voter ID law that was struck down by the state’s highest court more than two years ago. ... The American Civil Liberties Union, which filed the lawsuit that led to the previous law being stricken, said the latest measure raises the same concerns that voters will be disenfranchised. Holly Dickson, legal director for the ACLU of Arkansas, said the sworn statement provision in the latest law is an improvement but that the measure still will risk hurting voters. “Of course we have concerns that voter ID is going to do harm because that’s been Arkansas’ experience so far with voter ID,” Dickson said." Extreme primary challenges like you mention only really have an effect in first-past-the-post systems, because the party thinks it can win with 30% of the vote and has no need to reach across the aisle to work with the other 70% if they can get a small group motivated enough to vote. Obviously targetted voter suppression makes this even easier, while moves to require votes, or just make it easier to vote complicate it.