Loyalty Oath

From the Washington Post:

Voters in Virginia's Feb. 12 Republican presidential primary will have to sign an oath swearing loyalty to the eventual GOP ticket. But there is no way to enforce it, because a voter's actions in a booth are secret.

The State Board of Elections has approved a state Republican Party request that all who apply for a GOP primary ballot vow in writing to vote for the Republican presidential nominee next fall.

Voters in Virginia do not register by party. Since the mid-1990s, the state's Republicans have fretted that Democrats might meddle in their primaries, which are open to all registered voters.

A little further research finds that the oath will be as follows: “I affirm that I intend to vote for the Republican candidate in the general election."

This is surprising and disturbing to me. It seems to me this is aimed as much at Social Conservatives who won’t vote for Giuliani in the General Election as it is at Democrats creeping over for the Primary. I realize there’s no way to “enforce” this, but I might remind the Washington Post that some of us like to actually keep our promises. A novel concept inside the Washington Beltway to be sure, but still… All this is going to do is have the effect of reducing social conservative participation in the primary, and maybe that’s the point. I fully understand the concern of a “split party” should Giuliani become the nominee. I don’t think it would serve anyone’s interests for a social conservative like Ron Paul to run on a third party ticket splitting votes from the Republican nominee and handing the election to whoever the Democrats put forward. Even as a staunch Social Conservative I’ll take Giuliani over Hillary or Obama any day… That being said, I really think trying to bully and intimidate those voters before it even becomes an issue runs the risk of alienating them over a potential non-issue, not to mention the fact that I think it’s just plain wrong…