2008 madness
As Jimmy Durante used to say, “Everybody wants to get into the act!” and that certainly seems to be the case as far as the process for choosing presidential nominees for both major parties is going.
Wednesday, Michigan moved to upset the calendar further by taking initial steps to move its 2008 presidential primary to Jan. 15. This came a day after Arizona moved its primary to Feb. 5, a crowded day that includes Oklahoma and already has been christened Tsunami Tuesday. So far on Feb. 5 alone the following states plan primaries, caucuses or other delegate selection contests for one or both parties: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Utah, and West Virginia.
When Oklahoma moved its primary up in 2004, it attracted a lot of visits from Democratic candidates (no Republican candidates really, since President Bush didn’t have a primary challenger). This year, while candidates from both parties have stopped by, the visits are fewer. The hopefuls can hardly be blamed: With so many early contests, they have to focus resources on states with the most delegates available to win and we don’t fall into that camp.
Of course, Iowa and New Hampshire, who have been indulged for far too long as the lead-off states in the process, have been whining endlessly. As more states move up their voting, don’t be surprised if by the time we get done, they move their contests into December of this year just to remain first.
At some point, this has to be resolved. It already gives an unfair advantage to the better-known and better-financed candidates and the marathon aspect that used to be common actually made for better candidates by putting them to the test.
It’s too late to make radical changes for 2008, but perhaps by 2012, other plans can be developed. Perhaps several regional primaries that would be spaced a month apart, allowing candidates to focus and giving them time to build momentum without being knocked out in the very first round. No single binding vote has been cast, but Republicans Jim Gilmore and Tommy Thompson and Democrat Tom Vilsack already have been forced to leave the contest.
Of course, there will be complaints about which region gets to go first, so maybe they can develop some kind of lottery or set up a rotating system for each presidential year. As it stands right now, the way 2008 is shaping up is no way to pick a presidential nominee and seems like a recipe for guaranteeing a third-party challenger (not that there is anything wrong with that). If both parties’ nominees have been picked by February and the general election will still be nine months away, voters will quickly tire of listening to the same two people and seek other options.
Scott Schuldt, Staff Writer
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