The conservative-leaning blog, The Politico, has an informative article on the sanctions the DNC might apply to Michigan and Florida for moving up their primaries to January.
But the only solution to the "primary creep" where states keep scheduling their primaries earlier is to end the Iowa/New Hampshire duopoly on the earliest primary events.
There's no reason why Iowa and New Hampshire should get to hog all the extra influence that goes with being the first big events for the presidential calendar. As long as Iowa and New Hampshire are first, states like Florida, Michigan, New York, and California are going to try to move ahead in order to have influence proportionate to their populations.
And who can blame them.
What the Democrats need to do is develop a system where states can rotate as the first state primaries for a presidential campaign. They could divide all the states (and the District of Columbia) into groups of five "first primary" states and then alternate the groups. For example, Group I could be defined as California, Nebraska, Indiana, Georgia, and Massachusetts and that group could be have the first primaries spread over three weeks in 2012. If such were the case, that group's next shot at the first primary apple would be 10 elections later.
The point here is that an entirely different group--perhaps Texas, Maine, Ohio, Oregon, and Mississippi--would be the first primary states in 2016.
The Democrats are the party of equality. The only way to solve the problem of primary creep is to spread the wealth of being a "first primary state" more equally.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
22 comments:
Does the DNC or the actual state make the determinations as to when the primaries will be held?
It is the state that sets the date (legislature or governor, varies by state). And it's not a Democrat issue. Otherwise, it's nice to see the Prof hit on something that actually is worth finding a solution to.
I like a lottery system myself, or do them all at once. The rotating proposal is reasonable as well. Either way, the states need to get together to sort it out, not the political parties.
I heard Jeff Greenfield suggest a regional/rotating set of primaries: New England goes first one year, the South the next, etc. It would terribly hard to manage, but it would be worth the effort.
He also pointed out, and this is not something to be discounted, how much money Iowa and New Hampshire garner from these races. It's like Mardi Gras for boring people; less bead and less boob flashing (unless Gingrich gets in, then maybe he and Gore can stage a wet Oxford contest).
I think I took that joke too far....
So the DNC is planning on fining people for an action that a State decided on?
Well, yeah, but so are Republicans. The RNC and DNC have threatened to have the delegate totals of any offending state. Those states' parties argue that they don't care. It's not like the nominee is chosen at the convention any longer.
It seems as though if the State wants to have their primary, they can have it whenever they wish, according to the applicable laws. The parties will just have to deal with it, unless we have ceded some type of Legislative or Executive control to them.
"have was supposed to equal "halved" in the earlier post.
I thought you promised your master you wouldn't speak with anymore, JD?
I have no master, young man, except for my better half and my daughter.
I agreed to not discuss your bringing up Frisch, and the lies you told about the "threat".
JD, I ain't some high-priced attorney/executive from an insurance company. That threat he makes is real. He threatened to (at the very least) reveal personal information about me that could damage me. You can't see Pablo calling the front desk?
So, whatever you think about his claim is wasn't physical (I think it was), it is a threat.
PS Let's drop that and get back to primary talk. I'm sorry I brought it up.
PPS Congratulations on the twins. Are they identical? My wife had a friend who married a very bad man and they had fraternal twins. Years later, she re-marries and speaks with her doctor about twins and he says "minuscule chance." A year later: identical twin boys.
Since I am surrounded by my two daughters and my wife, my three month boy is a happy addition indeed, except, of course, that now I have no idea what kind of toys boys like now, what kind of movies. Outside of warping into a baseball fan, I'm sort of lost.
PPPS I still think my Gingrich/Gore wet T-shirt joke was the bomb.
Thank you, timb. We do not yet know if they are identical or fraternal. I have no doubt that they are girls, given God's eternally vexing sense of humor. I already have 2 women in my home that I do not understand, what could 2 more hurt? lol
You need a solid mancave/bunker...and probably a new bathrrom or two!
We have a full bath connected to every bedroom, so I think I will be alright there. I have staked out the theatre as Daddy's domain, which should last for a few more weeks.
Prof. Caric - Since it is up to each state to make their own determinations, how do you propose getting 50 state legislatures to participate in a lottery?
the lotto was my deal, but getting all the states to agree to any sort of compromise is nigh impossible. New Hampshire and Iowa will claim tradition, and the rest will insist it isn't fair. I hate to say it, but since it is a matter of national elections, there may be room for the feds to set something up. I'm sure the states would argue, and they may be right, that the feds don't have the authority to regulate the matter, but it's the only solution I see that will prevent us from having primaries in 2014 for the 2020 race.
ef - I have no problem with that. It will renew the emphasis on the party conventions, and states will have to be conscious that somebody that looks good in 2007 may not look so great in 2008, so they may be throwing their votes behind somebody that could be out of the race by the time convention time rolls around.
At this point, I'd just be happy if the Kentucky primary were in January. Early January.
JD, you have a very nice house. I know you're glad to have it and it sounds like you should!
The problem with all of our suggestions is that both Iowa and New Hampshire have actual laws requiring them to the first election (Iowa)or the first primary (NH). The Feds cannot invalidate those laws, as there is no Constitutional basis to do so in the Courts and any statute would be challenged in Court and defeated by the fact that elections are explicitly the domain of the states.
JD, keep me (at least) updated on those twins. Today I woke up to a drooling smiling little guy and it reminded how cool babies are.
Thanks, timb.
Given the statutory nature of IA and NH, it seems like the rest of the states will simply keep forcing those 2 to go earlier and earlier.
As another off-topic moment, when you say theater...help me stoke my admiration and envy a bit. Are we talking projection and surround sound and sound-proofed room? Is there a bar? A Fridge? Is it 10 x 20 or is just that a piker compared to yours?
It is true lust can turn into envy, but at this point it's not a hateful jealousy; it's a "I need to be a helluva lot nicer to JD!"
Besides, you know from PW that I'm in law school. I CAN be bought. Make me offer.*
*not really bought so much, but rented!
900 square feet. Projection. 210" HD screen. The room is not sound proofed, but it has its own separate entrance, interior and exterior, full bath, and a small bar and fridge.
900 square feet! Since that is close to the size of my house (!), you can rent me any time.
that room will provide plenty od Dad space.
We have a pretty good sized place, timb. Not in the 7-figure price range (at least not in this market) and not in the 5 figure square foot range, but pretty large. We worked our asses off for years to be able to afford our dream home, and put off children for a few years in order to do so.
Looks like the DNC is usurping State powers and stripping the Florida delegation of its votes at the delegates' convention. Seems to me that the DNC should not be allowed to make the determinations , given that the DNC is attempting to disenfranchise Dem votesand ignoring the existing laws in the process.
Post a Comment