States in Revolt over “outdated” Presidential Primary System?
(No Ratings Yet)Part of my wonky nature, is my interest in the systemic components of democracies (wow, I know that sounds exciting, doesn’t it?).
There is a battle raging between the local politics and the DNC and RNC. It seems that citizens in states like Florida, New Hampshire, Wyoming, Michigan and South Carolina and others are tired of the primary process (read the NY Times article here). It is unclear what the outcome will be, but the national parties have threatened various sanctions including denying the states ability to seat a delegation at the parties nomination conventions.
A DNC spokeswomen has already brought up a 25 year old supreme court case, which allows the parties and not the states to decide their nomination procedure (read the Miami Herald article here). This is a very exciting issue, because if the netroots weigh in, some degree of power may be wrestled away from the national parties.
Amidst the chaos, a group of partisan and non-partisan groups has come together to promote a locally organized National Presidential Caucus scheduled for December 7th. The plan has been endorsed by groups as diverse as TechRepublican and Democracy for America and with the rest of the primary system in chaos, who knows what will happen.
Proponents of primary reform say that small states like Iowa and New Hampshire, shouldn’t decide who becomes the Presidential Candidates every year. Meanwhile, others respond that a national primary will require candidates to raise more money to fund a national campaign. Either way change seems imminent…
For up to date news on ballot access I go to Ballot-Access.Org
To read more about systemic reforms I go to Fairvote
For an up to date Presidential Primary/Caucus Calendar I go to NASS
Here is another Primary reform oriented site (nationalprimary.info/)
(update) other blogs discussing this:
The Buzz, The Swamp, CQ politics, FreeRepublic, WakeupAmerica
on August 30th, 2007 at 10:28 am
To all of you that responded to my last post, I would never demean the work that you all put into this place. I would like to believe that this place is driven by all of those things Josh pointed out. I must admit that i am not as idealistic as most people that come here. I like to drink and fish. If that makes any of you think less of me than i apologize. As for working hard I am currently the National Bus Tour coordinator. Like most of you I am over worked and overburdened but if you doubt my work ethic i have been put in charge of locating, negotiating, painting, equipping, outfitting, and planning a $300,000 investment. All of you know how much of a stiff RK is at spending money so when he goes this big you know it doesn’t get entrusted to someone that is lazy or incompetent.
We have purchased a 45ft coach. It is licensed, tagged, and insured, and will soon be wrapped. In addition, myself and JJ will be leaving Orlando, FL on Oct.7. We will move through FL, GA, AL, SC, NC, VA, and arrive in Philadelphia for the Oct. 30 presidential debate. After that we will travel through DE, NJ, CT, NY, VT, NH, ME, and MA from Nov.1 -Thanksgiving. If any of you would like to have the bus visit you or your school (so far I have booked dates with Florida State, Univ. of Florida, Georgia Tech, UGA, Young Harris College, College Of Charleston, Duke, E. Conn. St. U., UCONN, University Of Richmond, etc.) in addition to dozens of city halls, public libraries, civic centers, civic organizations, etc. If you want the bus to visit your school or town let me know, jon@votesmart.org. If not we could use your help if you can come out while we’re in your area. Good Day.
on August 30th, 2007 at 10:28 pm
I’m not sure how to fix the problem with primaries, but I do find it somewhat ironic that a group (nationalprimary.info) that says our current process decides nominees “too quickly” wants to, instead, decide the whole thing in a day…??? In the end parties should decide their internal matters.
Individual primaries and the electoral college were designed to foster Federalism, and could easily be used as such if we wanted. Instead Americans constantly buy whole-heartedly into the two-party system, and vote for the lesser of two evils.
on August 31st, 2007 at 4:28 pm
It seems that DNC chairman Dean has submitted a letter asking each of the candidates to boycott the state of Florida. This should be an opportunity for Biden or Richardson to break ranks and go for , if they do - I don’t see how the party is going to deny Florida voters!
on October 9th, 2007 at 10:35 pm
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