This post is nothing more than a quick hip shot, and I've no time to do the proper research, so I may be completely wrong, but I want to bring it to the quick attention of like-minded readers. Feel free to beat up on my premise if you see any flaws.
It occurs to me this morning, after half a cup of coffee, that the real threat from the Republican Party's installation of fake Democrats into the recall elections against Republican state senators isn't that this will force primaries and thus delay the day of reckoning by nearly a month, or possibly give Republicans a chance to get better organized.
Rather, the primaries and the fake Democrats give Republicans an opportunity to derail the legitimate Democratic candidate in each contest, before the incumbent Republican actually has to face them. It's to force the legitimate Democrat to win twice, when the incumbent Republican is guaranteed to only have to win once. Consider this scenario:
1. Republicans install Republicans running as Democrats with successful nomination papers (already done, except the papers arel being reviewed by the Government Accountability Board, which is likely to accept them).
2. Democrats are forced into a primary, theoretically running against someone else in their own party but really running against a not-well-known or serious Republican, whom under ordinary circumstances they should easily beat.
3. However, Republican voters, activated by concern they'll lose a state Senate majority, come out in droves for the Democratic primary and cross over to vote for the fake Democrat. [Republican incumbents will remain safe from this type of challenge as they will only be forced to go through one special election.]
4. The fake Democrat might win, in which case for the final recall election it will be the incumbent Republican facing a safe GOP alternative who will put up no resistance.
This is gaming the system and mischief-making of an extreme and unethical level. If I'm right, this is the real threat progressives should be focusing upon. It means the real Democrats will have to work very hard in the primaries to avoid an upset by a fake Democrat bolstered by Republican votes. Even if the real Democrat wins, he or she will have to expend precious time and resources fighting off this obstruction.
So everyone is going to have to take the primaries very seriously and work very hard to avoid this horrifying scenario. If I'm right. Feel free to dissuade me.