Question of the Week
Do you think that the voters of Iowa and New Hampshire have an inordinate amount of power in deciding who the credible candidates are going to be in the presidential primaries?
Take the issue of ethanol, an alternate energy fuel that can be made from corn, which is one of Iowa’s chief agricultural products.
Ethanol fuel is not particularly efficient, and some even believe that it may use more energy to produce ethanol than the fuel provides. But both Republican and Democratic candidates must support ethanol to get any traction in Iowa. And you may disagree about the promise of ethanol, but we can never have a serious discussion about it as long as Iowa retains such a powerful voice in the presidential elections.
This is just one extreme example of the larger issue, which is that two states get to set the tone for the other forty-eight. From the financial districts in New York, to the wheat fields in Kansas, to the senior citizen centers in Florida, to the Mormon churches in Utah, to the cattle ranches in Texas, to the Hollywood community in California, to the indigenous peoples of Alaska and Hawaii, America is a panoply of voices and points of view. To bestow the coveted frontrunner status to candidates after hearing from only two out of fifty states seems like a subversion of democracy.
The general election is held in every state on the same day.
Should the primaries all be held on the same day?
January 14th, 2008 at 2:13 pm
All primaries should not be held on the same day, that much is certain.
The month-plus of campaigning between Iowa and Super Tuesday is an essential part of the campaign — it tests presidential mettle. It shows to the party how each candidate stands up over a prolonged struggle to win the support of a majority of delegates, similar to how the candidate stands up over a prolonged struggle to campaign in a general election.
Early primaries and caucuses ensure that flash doesn’t win over substance, and it tests the depth of character of both the candidate and his platform.
Whether Iowa specifically and New Hampshire specifically should have so much say, I doubt it. But holding primaries on the same day would be folly.
January 14th, 2008 at 6:19 pm
They used to select the presidential candidates at one time, without going through primaries. It was called the convention. Carter was the first candidate who successfully secured the nomination before the convention, but securing enough delegates during the primary to make the convention unnecessary.
Its a fact!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._presidential_election,_1976