In that time period, I was too disgusted with national politics to get involved in primary elections. I considered that the party fat cats would get who they wanted whether I put my time in or not. I read up on the selected miscreants, held my nose, and voted for the (hopefully) least vile. Sometimes I voted wrong in retrospect, but my selection usually does not get voted in. My current feeling is that voting is probably a waste of time, but by now it is a hard habit to break. And it's not that much time, and if I vote, I am entitled to bitch later. Not that it does any good.