# I'm a progressive. Should I register as a Republican? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [October 20, 2018, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-progressive-should-i-register-as-a-republican/823252 "2018-10-20T18:10:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2018, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-progressive-should-i-register-as-a-republican/823252/21 "2018-10-24T17:29:57Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > In which election is there the greater difference between the candidates? If there are two Democratic candidates, and you think that either one of them would be great, but the two Republican candidates are one guy who’s the spawn of Satan and the other is just mildly annoying, then register R and vote for the mildly annoying guy. If, on the other hand, you think that one Democrat is great and the other is only barely acceptable, but one Republican is only slightly more horrible than the other, then register D. Another strategy would be to vote for Spawn of Satan–or whichever candidate you think would be easiest to beat in the general election. ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2018, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-progressive-should-i-register-as-a-republican/823252/22 "2018-10-24T17:43:59Z")
> [@Oakminster](#): > > Another strategy would be to vote for Spawn of Satan–or whichever candidate you think would be easiest to beat in the general election. That was a good idea once. Back when gravity existed. Those were the days. ---
**Author:** ![doorhinge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a5b964/32.png) [@doorhinge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doorhinge)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2018, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-progressive-should-i-register-as-a-republican/823252/23 "2018-10-24T21:18:29Z")
> [@sisu](#): > > So if you are a registered Democrat you can’t vote Republican, wow that seems so weird on many levels. Registering as a party member only applies to voting during the Primary Elections. The political parties are trying to decide which of their party’s candidates will be on the ballot in the upcoming General Election. Voters are not required to declare for any political party during General Elections. ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2018, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-progressive-should-i-register-as-a-republican/823252/24 "2018-10-25T05:48:13Z")
It might seem like a smart strategy, but it’s not. It just divides the ‘progressive’ vote for no reason at all ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2018, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-progressive-should-i-register-as-a-republican/823252/25 "2018-10-25T05:55:08Z")
I think a lot of people registered as Republicans in 2016 just to vote for Chump in the primary, because they knew he would be easy to beat. I’m not saying that’s how he did get nominated, dunno how many people actually did that, but really, just vote for the party and person you want to win. That’s the best policy. ---
**Author:** ![Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/budget_player_cadet/32/205_2.png) [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Budget_Player_Cadet)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2018, 6:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-progressive-should-i-register-as-a-republican/823252/26 "2018-10-25T06:51:03Z")
I think progressives have much more to gain by engaging in party primaries in an attempt to shift the democrats to the left than they have to gain gaming the republican primaries. We’ve established quite well that there’s no such thing as “unelectable” for republicans, and that there’s no such thing as a moderate republican in congress. There’s really not much to gain there. Whereas the difference between Occasio-Cortez and Manchin is fucking huge and means something. ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2018, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-progressive-should-i-register-as-a-republican/823252/27 "2018-10-25T17:09:45Z")
> [@asahi](#): > > It might seem like a smart strategy, but it’s not. It just divides the ‘progressive’ vote for no reason at all When does the divide occur? It means it will “look like” there are more repubs. But you would vote for the progressive choice in the general, after you had voted for the weakest repub in the primary. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2018, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-progressive-should-i-register-as-a-republican/823252/28 "2018-10-25T17:15:14Z")
I’m a Democrat, but I voted in Indiana’s GOP primary to vote for Cruz versus Trump. At that point, I wasn’t expecting a Cruz victory in Indiana to get him the nomination, but it would have helped make the convention a possible contested one, one that Kasich might have gotten support in. ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2018, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-progressive-should-i-register-as-a-republican/823252/29 "2018-10-25T17:18:06Z")
In my state, any voter can vote in either primary election. In past years when there were no competitive Dem races, I often voted in the GOP primary for the least objectionable candidate(s). The Dems were in such disarray that they often only had one candidate for local or state offices, if any at all. Lately it’s gotten a little better and I’ve voted in the last couple of Dem primaries, even in non-presidential years like the current one. We had a progressive but not widely known candidate running against a business-friendly moderate former Nashville mayor for the governor’s seat. The former mayor would have been okay, but I preferred the progressive. The mayor won the primary anyway. He’ll probably lose the general election but no worse than the progressive would have. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-progressive-should-i-register-as-a-republican/823252.md?page=1)