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[-] flandish@lemmy.world 22 points 3 days ago

yeah. see. i disagree that incumbents should be given anything. earn it. primary every time.

i have been voting since 1997.

[-] FudgyMcTubbs@lemmy.world 6 points 3 days ago

I agree with you, but as devil's advocate, why would a political party vie against itself for a seat it already holds. At best, it would only slightly sully the incumbent's name. Take Biden for example: either he's doing a good job, or he needs to be replaced because he's not doing a good enough job.

[-] Bronzebeard@lemmy.zip 5 points 3 days ago

Parties shouldn't have that kind of operational control over our elections.

[-] flandish@lemmy.world 3 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

why? imho because its supposed to represent the current situation and overton window not be a reminder the parties are “clubs” that set their own rules.

[-] Armok_the_bunny@lemmy.world 2 points 3 days ago

From what I've read the reason primaries aren't done on incumbents is because every single time it's been tried the incumbent lost the actual election and the seat went to the other party.

[-] flandish@lemmy.world 3 points 3 days ago

? If incumbent wins the primary its the same as if they didn’t have one but at least the party members chose.

primaries are separate by party.

[-] Armok_the_bunny@lemmy.world 1 points 3 days ago

It's not a thing that happens often, but as far as I can find every single time the incumbent president has had someone try to primary them, the incumbent's entire party lost the seat.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Primary_challenge

[-] Bronzebeard@lemmy.zip 5 points 3 days ago

I mean, in the current system if there's enough desire from within the party to push to primary the incumbent president, they were already pretty unpopular.

It's not the primary that's causing them to lose, it's that the party had thought a primary was even necessary because they were already likely going to lose.

[-] flandish@lemmy.world 2 points 3 days ago

interesting. maybe a spread in focus leads to loss.

[-] Armok_the_bunny@lemmy.world 1 points 3 days ago

My assumption is that primary related mud slinging depresses enthusiasm among the public for the incumbent, combined with attempts at it only being made when the incumbent is relatively unpopular anyway.

this post was submitted on 05 Mar 2026
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