CAMPAIGN 2008. The Long Wait
Hey, I'm all for the process of nominating a candidate being suspenseful. I have no problem not knowing who the nominees are going to be until right before the Conventions. I think its great that Senators Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama are slugging it out. But the scheduling of these primaries and caucuses needs to be changed.
On February 5th, about 20 states voted. The idea was to have the whole banana wrapped up by then. I wasn't looking forward to that. Thankfully, Obama and Clinton split those votes and neither could really claim frontrunner status. Every Tuesday in February there were more contests. A political junkie's great fix.
But then after the March 4th primaries in Texas, Ohio, Rhode Island and Vermont, there has been a dry spell. There was a primary in Mississippi, but that's it. Now the next big event is in Pennsylvania on April 22nd. 6 weeks between major contests. Way too long.
It gives both sides more time to dig up dirt on each other. It gives the poor people of the Keystone State more commercials to watch till they are sick of them. Folks like me get bored. I believe it hurts the process.
I have a plan to fix this problem. Using this year as a guide, here's how I would have scheduled the primaries and caucuses.
January 15 -Iowa Caucus- Keep the tradition going. Let the cornhuskers kick things off. Nothing against Iowa, but if you can survive out there in the dead of January, you can survive Washington DC
January 22- New Hampshire Primary- Gives everyone a week to get themselves to the first in the nation primary. Again keeps tradition going and tests the mettle of the candidates.
February 5 - Carolina Primaries- Usually South Carolina hosts the third overall and first "Southern" primary. I say knock two of them out in one shot. Plus it will increase the number of delegates, which will start to separate the contenders from the pretenders.
February 19- Nevada Caucus/Arizona Primary- Gives the press and the candidates some time to warm up and covers another corner of the country.
March 5th SUPER TUESDAY- Alaska, Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Illinois, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, NJ, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Utah, West Virginia, Virginia, New Mexico- You won't necessarily wrap it up here, but you can jump ahead and solidify your lead. Or you can make a comeback.
March 19- New York. Gives us a chance to decide. Though I'm not usually happy with the choices we usually make.
March 26- California- The big prize. Most years it will wrap up with this contest.
April 1- Texas- But if you have a year like this year, we march on deep in the heart of Texas.
April 8- Florida- Spring break is usually over, so the dinner at 4 PM crowd gets their voices heard. I have them late as punishment for f-ing up the 2000 election and the 2008 primaries.
April 15 Ohio/Pennsylvania- The rust belt primaries.
April 22- Indiana, Kentucky, Kansas- The Midwest tussle.
April 29- Louisiana/Mississippi- The battle in the bayou.
May 20 SUPER TUESDAY II- By this time, the election will most likely have been decided, but if not, this will wrap it up. All the other states who have yet to vote get to vote here, as well as all the US territories. The candidates will be given 3 weeks to criss-cross the remaining 13 states and even spend some time in Hawaii if they so choose.
To sum up- Iowa, New Hampshire and the Carolinas should always get first crack. If you want to alternate between the 13 Super Tuesday II states and the 20 Super Tuesday I states to mix it up a bit that's fine too. NY, Cali, Fla and Texas should always be stand alone states, and most important, there should NEVER be more than 3 weeks between primaries and they should never start before Martin Luther King Day.
Please comment at WildWill45@aol.com
On February 5th, about 20 states voted. The idea was to have the whole banana wrapped up by then. I wasn't looking forward to that. Thankfully, Obama and Clinton split those votes and neither could really claim frontrunner status. Every Tuesday in February there were more contests. A political junkie's great fix.
But then after the March 4th primaries in Texas, Ohio, Rhode Island and Vermont, there has been a dry spell. There was a primary in Mississippi, but that's it. Now the next big event is in Pennsylvania on April 22nd. 6 weeks between major contests. Way too long.
It gives both sides more time to dig up dirt on each other. It gives the poor people of the Keystone State more commercials to watch till they are sick of them. Folks like me get bored. I believe it hurts the process.
I have a plan to fix this problem. Using this year as a guide, here's how I would have scheduled the primaries and caucuses.
January 15 -Iowa Caucus- Keep the tradition going. Let the cornhuskers kick things off. Nothing against Iowa, but if you can survive out there in the dead of January, you can survive Washington DC
January 22- New Hampshire Primary- Gives everyone a week to get themselves to the first in the nation primary. Again keeps tradition going and tests the mettle of the candidates.
February 5 - Carolina Primaries- Usually South Carolina hosts the third overall and first "Southern" primary. I say knock two of them out in one shot. Plus it will increase the number of delegates, which will start to separate the contenders from the pretenders.
February 19- Nevada Caucus/Arizona Primary- Gives the press and the candidates some time to warm up and covers another corner of the country.
March 5th SUPER TUESDAY- Alaska, Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Illinois, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, NJ, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Utah, West Virginia, Virginia, New Mexico- You won't necessarily wrap it up here, but you can jump ahead and solidify your lead. Or you can make a comeback.
March 19- New York. Gives us a chance to decide. Though I'm not usually happy with the choices we usually make.
March 26- California- The big prize. Most years it will wrap up with this contest.
April 1- Texas- But if you have a year like this year, we march on deep in the heart of Texas.
April 8- Florida- Spring break is usually over, so the dinner at 4 PM crowd gets their voices heard. I have them late as punishment for f-ing up the 2000 election and the 2008 primaries.
April 15 Ohio/Pennsylvania- The rust belt primaries.
April 22- Indiana, Kentucky, Kansas- The Midwest tussle.
April 29- Louisiana/Mississippi- The battle in the bayou.
May 20 SUPER TUESDAY II- By this time, the election will most likely have been decided, but if not, this will wrap it up. All the other states who have yet to vote get to vote here, as well as all the US territories. The candidates will be given 3 weeks to criss-cross the remaining 13 states and even spend some time in Hawaii if they so choose.
To sum up- Iowa, New Hampshire and the Carolinas should always get first crack. If you want to alternate between the 13 Super Tuesday II states and the 20 Super Tuesday I states to mix it up a bit that's fine too. NY, Cali, Fla and Texas should always be stand alone states, and most important, there should NEVER be more than 3 weeks between primaries and they should never start before Martin Luther King Day.
Please comment at WildWill45@aol.com
Comments
not sure how you're process would be better than what happened this year, I'm sure two to three dynamic candidates could cause similar issues with you process.
if you want to take the wait out of the process, how about somehting radical like a national primary.
everyone votes over the course of a weekend, maybe in late may, then they have a couple of months to raise money prior to the convention.
It seems this election cycle started in Jan 07, and it is never going to end.
Ray