So you’re red – or blue – all the way. You know what party you want to win and how you’ll vote. But do you know how the people you vote for will behave once in office? They have the right letter beside their name – but is that enough?

Short answer – no. Long answer – heck no. Both parties are showing the effects of decades of voter neglect. Too many times we vote in the ‘important’ general election but we don’t even bother to look at the primary.

The primaries aren’t formalities – at least not if people use them effectively. The primaries are where the critical decisions of who will advance the party are made. They can be bewildering with dozens of candidates or barely present with only one, but they are still critically important. These candidates – not those who ultimately run in the election – are the most important candidates to get to know. Because the future of that party you support is directed by who you and your party friends choose.

Right now, this is coming home to roost for Democrats – there’s a reason some of you are toying with voting ‘independent’. Democrat candidates seem split between political elites and near extreme leftists. That’s not a good place for any party to be, so if you care about the Democrat party, you are going to need to be very choosy for the next few election cycles about who fronts your ticket.

Republicans are at the crossroads – and in the path of oncoming traffic. If anything, they are in the far more difficult position because a clear majority of their base has just about had it with their leadership. Republican unresponsiveness and failure to enact policies their constituents approve of is near legendary. If anyone hadn’t noticed, the Trump presidency drove home the point with a sledge hammer. The base is not going to settle for more of the same ‘get nothing done’ Republican inaction and most of Republican voters are ready for the ouster of even the most well known Republican office holders – this is a really bad spot for a party to be in.

But that makes primary elections even more critical for Republicans. Yes, candidates have to be more willing to get things done in line with their voter’s expectations – but the voters themselves have got to be far more selective about who they allow into office and that starts with the primary for all but the most politically active people. More of the same lackluster public servants with an R by their names will likely doom the Republican party within the decade.

Don’t get cocky, Democrats. Your party is showing visible signs of fracturing. It’s likely impossible to please the Democrat base at this point because the base itself is fractured. But despite what those in power would have you believe, it’s the base that very much pushes the party’s direction. If that base fails to elect primary candidates that reflect the emerging Democrat ideology – whatever it turns out to be – the party won’t last even five years. The base will fracture and the party will fail.

Party failures happen – the amazing thing is that the current party set (referred to as a party system in the great political science tradition of having confusing terms and reusing them often) has lasted so very long. It was showing all the signs of a system change back in the Eighties. I suppose that arguably did happen with the rise of the independent voter – but that’s a complex question for another day. The important part is the US has had at least 5 party systems since 1789 and we are perfectly capable of surviving yet another party realignment. Maybe this time we get horses and deer instead of donkeys and elephants.

So, in turbulent times, especially if you’re interested in the direction of a given party, primaries are crucial. But they are also crucial if you couldn’t care less what letter you pull the lever for – because the real choice of who the best candidate is is made at the primary. The general election just votes between the leftovers.