Booman Tribune ~ A Progressive Community

A Short, Stupid Question, Episode #1

by eodell
Sun Mar 30th, 2008 at 10:44:18 PM EST

I don't often diary because I seldom have any topic that I want to rant about at length, at least not without provocation. (Today is actually an exception, but that topic is a guaranteed flamewar, so I'm letting it pass.) But I do often have some simple thing that's bugging me, so I'm going to start posting the one that bugs me most every Sunday.

Primaries. There are a lot of problems with primaries, but the one that seems to be most topical right now is that states that hold their primaries early in the season have a disproportional influence on the process, while the states that have late primaries may as well not hold them at all. There are two obvious simple solutions to this problem:

Hold the primaries in all fifty states on the same day.
Randomize the order of the states.

Both solutions have some equally obvious drawbacks, #1 being that candidates with big war chests at the start of the season would have an even larger advantage than they do already, and #2 being that it doesn't really solve the problem and might in fact make it worse.

But as Republican voters are always slow to grasp, if the problems are the world were simple, simpletons like them would have solved them already.

So how would you make the primary system fairer, more representative, and harder to game?

A Short, Stupid Question, Episode #1 | 3 comments (3 topical, 0 editorial, 0 hidden)

Re: A Short, Stupid Question, Episode #1 (none / 0)

Well for one thing the Senator from Florida Nelson, suggested that 4 or 5 regional primaries might be a good idea, he seemed to have a lot of good suggestions he mentioned on CNN Sat. I cannot recall his exact plan, but I think regional could be a workable solution. And then eliminate cacuses.

Click here to step into the Village Blue2

by diane101 (dianed101 @ yahoo.com) on Sun Mar 30th, 2008 at 11:34:10 PM EST

Re: A Short, Stupid Question, Episode #1 (none / 0)

Hm, that sounds like a decent idea, depending on the details. Was he suggesting that the regions be balanced in terms of population?

---Cthulhu for President: Why vote for the lesser evil?

by eodell (eodell at naqada dot org) on Sun Mar 30th, 2008 at 11:54:18 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: A Short, Stupid Question, Episode #1 (none / 0)

Yep, 50 states, same day. Make it like the GE. The primary system is nothing more than a silly relic. In its current form it does more than provide the media with a sort of continuing extended news cycle.

Fear will keep the local systems in line. -Grand Moff Tarkin Survivor Left Blogistan

by boran2 (blogistan@yahoo.com) on Mon Mar 31st, 2008 at 01:07:36 PM EST

A Short, Stupid Question, Episode #1 | 3 comments (3 topical, 0 editorial, 0 hidden)

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