Change process, avoid chaos

With many states planning on moving up their 2008 presidential primary elections to attempt to have a larger influence on the selection of political party nominees we could end up with a situation where over half of the states may hold their primaries on or before February 5, 2008. This could significantly impact the outcome of the presidential nomination process by there being only 22 days between the Iowa caucuses on January 14 and what is being called “Super Duper Tuesday”(which our state will participate in) on February 5.

Historically, the presidential nomination process has been a gauntlet through which the mettle of the candidates has been tried and tested. It has been a marathon(as the title of Jules Witcover’s book on the 1976 presidential race was titled), not a sprint. And I think that the country has been well served by this extended competition. This newly compacted primary schedule could have unintended consequences, not the least of which could be the huge possibility of “buyer’s regret” with about seven months between February 5(when the nominees could be all but decided) and the major party conventions.

Order needs to be returned to the process and a good place to start would be to seriously consider the recommendation of the National Association of Secretaries of State. Iowa and New Hampshire would maintain their lead positions due to their unique brand of retail politics. After these contests the rest of the nation would hold four regional primary elections – East, South, Midwest, and West – over the course of the first Tuesday in March, April, May and June. The first year that this plan is implemented the lead off region will be chosen by a lottery. In subsequent presidential election cycles, the lead off region will be moved to the last and the other regions moved up a month.

It is probably too late to fix the 2008 nomination process but perhaps by 2012 order can replace the current primary election chaos. Our nation would be well served to do so. Democrats, Republicans, Libertarians, and Greens should all support this idea. More information about this plan can be found at www.nass.org.