I'm working on class material for campaigning and ran across a few items related to incumbents being "primaried" or threatened with being primaried. This - of course - is when an incumbent is threatened with a more ideologically pure primary challenger if they cast votes seen by certain interest groups as being too moderate. Since its an increasing tactic, I'm adding it to course content.
Students should add this to their vocabulary.
A few related items:
- Getting Primaried: The Changing Politics of Congressional Primary Challenges.
- Primarying Arlen Specter was very stupid.
- "Primarying" Barack Obama--Some Relevant History.
This is one of the many factors driving ideological polarization in Congress. We will be discussing this strategy regularly in class.
