Even for Arizona, this is a pretty shocking bit of political hackery.
It says here in the Arizona Republic:
Sen. Jack Harper is responding to the outcries of constituents, he says, in a bill that will allow independents to vote in presidential primaries while sticking it to the Dems at the same time.
The bill, which Harper filed Monday, would allow unaffiliated voters, Repubicans and members of minority parties to choose which primary they vote in, Democrat or Republican. Registered Democrats, however, would only be able to vote in the Democratic primary.
Why allow Republicans to vote in the Democratic primary but not the other way around? Harper wouldn't say.
"The important thing here is that the independents are no longer disenfranchised," Harper, R-Surprise, told Insider... about a dozen times.
Insider rephrased the question every way we could think of, keeping Harper in the Senate lobby for a good 10 minutes after veteran Associated Press reporter Paul Davenport gave up and returned to the press room.
The only glimmer of an explanation? The Democratic party has been "manipulated by its liberal base" and doesn't represent most Arizonans, Harper said. The Democratic party is the "party of anarchy and flag-burning," he said.
Emily Bittner, Arizona Democratic Party spokeswoman, called the distinction between the parties in the bill "abusive" and "ridiculous."
Sen. Ken Cheuvront, D-Phoenix, pointed to the bright side.
"I'm just happy he allows us [Democrats] to vote," he quipped when he heard of the bill.
In fairness to Arizona Republicans, even Harper's co-sponsor thinks Democrats should be able to vote.
Co-sponsor Sen. Jim Waring, R-Phoenix, seemed floored that Harper didn't share that part of the bill with him. He said he signed on because he supports allowing unaffiliated voters to vote in the primaries. Waring said he won't vote for the bill unless it is changed to treat Rs and Ds the same.
But it probably doesn't matter anyway, at least not for this election cycle. Waring said he believes the bill faces constitutional challenges and wouldn't be able to go into effect in time for Arizona's Feb. 5 presidential preference elections. And Karen Osborne, Maricopa County's elections director, has said that elections can't be changed after the start of early voting Jan. 10. The Legislature does not begin its 2008 session until Jan. 14.
Harper is helping to lead the Huckabee campaign in Arizona. Any takers on odds that Huck will be asked about this?