Open up presidential primaries

A Democratic commission made a good proposal to allow more states — particularly ones more ethnically diverse than Iowa and New Hampshire — into the early presidential primary schedule. We’ve also supported a plan pushed in the past by Kansas Secretary of State Ron Thornburgh to establish a rotating, regional primary system. But such changes are tough, uphill fights, because the entrenched political interests don’t like change — even change that would make primaries fairer and more democratic.
Posted by Phillip Brownlee

2 Comments

  1. Galahad
    Posted December 19, 2005 at 12:53 am | Permalink

    Iowa is where John Kerry used his fabulous wealth to buy his way back into contention. And we all saw how that turned out.

    The caucus system they have–so that New Hampshire can continue to call itself “first in the nation”–is truly evil. The vast majority of Iowans don’t want the attention, don’t want to mess around for two hours or more on the coldest night of the year, and yet tradition keeps it all going.

    If Howard Dean can change our idiotic primaries so that the winner hasn’t already been decided after Iowa, New Hamster, and South Carolina, he will have done a lot toward making democrats more viable nationwide.

  2. mrcontroversy
    Posted December 19, 2005 at 11:35 am | Permalink

    Concur. Too bad the Kansas Legislature can’t have a sudden attack of common sense and put a presidential primary the Saturday after New Hampshire.