2008 Woodie Awards
U.S. presidential primaries need to be changed
By: Amanda King
Issue date: 9/6/07 Section: Opinion and Editorial
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An act currently in the Senate presents a middle ground.
The Regional Presidential Primary and Caucus Act, drafted by Sens. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., and Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., calls for four regional primaries - one in the East, South, Midwest and West. Under this system, all of the states contained in any one region would hold their primary on the same day and the regions would rotate election dates. This way, each region gets a turn to hold the nation's first primary election and the influence that goes with it.
The regional primaries would take place in separate months, meaning that each candidate will be able to dedicate an entire month to the 12 individual states in one region. This is more than enough time to allow for some of the personal-level politics seen in Iowa or New Hampshire. In addition, the targeted audience for televised campaign ads would still be narrow enough that even moderately-financed candidates would be able to afford air time on the major networks.
Unfortunately, the senators included in their proposal provisions for the continued dominance of Iowa and New Hampshire, which are to be excluded from the four regions and will still hold the first caucus and primary of the year. This exception, if included in the act, will defeat the purpose of reform by allowing Iowa and New Hampshire to maintain their monopoly over primary politics.
If the United States is to hold the free and fair elections befitting a democratic government, these two states must be disallowed from controlling the course of presidential primaries.
The Regional Presidential Primary and Caucus Act, drafted by Sens. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., and Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., calls for four regional primaries - one in the East, South, Midwest and West. Under this system, all of the states contained in any one region would hold their primary on the same day and the regions would rotate election dates. This way, each region gets a turn to hold the nation's first primary election and the influence that goes with it.
The regional primaries would take place in separate months, meaning that each candidate will be able to dedicate an entire month to the 12 individual states in one region. This is more than enough time to allow for some of the personal-level politics seen in Iowa or New Hampshire. In addition, the targeted audience for televised campaign ads would still be narrow enough that even moderately-financed candidates would be able to afford air time on the major networks.
Unfortunately, the senators included in their proposal provisions for the continued dominance of Iowa and New Hampshire, which are to be excluded from the four regions and will still hold the first caucus and primary of the year. This exception, if included in the act, will defeat the purpose of reform by allowing Iowa and New Hampshire to maintain their monopoly over primary politics.
If the United States is to hold the free and fair elections befitting a democratic government, these two states must be disallowed from controlling the course of presidential primaries.
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