Why Is The Kos Stirring the Republican Pot?

The Michigan primary is over. Mitt Romney has his first state victory under his belt. There was nothing really surprising about that. Any other result would have been an upset.

However, I am surprised to learn that the media reported that a prominent liberal blog, Daily Kos, was calling for Democrats in that state to vote in the Republican primary for Mitt Romney. I really don't believe Romney's win was the result of that effort, but I question reasoning of Daily Kos as reported by the media. Supposedly, the Kos was advocating a win for Romney to help keep the Republicans off balance and up in the air regarding who their presidential nominee was going to be. Now, I agree that at the moment it does have that effect.

However, the more uncertainty there is in the selection process, the greater the degree of curiosity about it. The uncertainty invites more media attention thereby keeping the Republican candates' messages more in the minds of the public. Does Daily Kos really want the Republicans soaking up all the public attention?

One of my complaints about the compressed primary season has been that there is so much dead time between the apparent end of the primaries and the conventions. This invites public apathy and boredom. I can't see how that works in either party's favor. The spector of a brokered convention, however, is just the sort of thing a fickle gossip hungry public would feed upon. The attendant free publicity surrounding such an event would have value beyond our ability to measure. It would require the bitterest of party infighting for this to emerge as anything but a windfall for the eventual victor.

By contrast, the sooner one knows who one's opponent is going to be, the longer one has to prepare for the battle. So, why was Daily Kos calling for stirring up the Republican pot? It's a mystery.

That's Wade's two cents.

Wade Houston