The current political primary system is broken. We do not get the best candidates. More significantly, we do not get the candidates the citizens truly want.
This has been an issue to varying degrees for years. The all time low occurred in 2008 when John McCain was thrust upon the Republican Party, though less than 1% of the population wanted McCain as their candidate. In November, many hard-core Republicans across the nation held their nose while voting for McCain; while many other Republicans didn’t vote at all.
A candidate thrust upon the party which was odorous to the party members? How could this be?
I have been working on the problem of flawed political primaries since 1996, but 2008 was the year that provided absolute proof to a many citizens that the political primary system must be fixed.
The problems are various and they are intertwined. The main problems in the political primary system over the last 20 years have been:
1. Most candidates drop out too soon
2. Not all regions are heard before candidates drop out
3. Smaller states have too much power, able to dictate candidate choices over larger and more populous states.
4. Big states are not given a chance to vote for candidates.
5. Candidates rarely visit the larger states.
These points will be expanded on below.
1. The biggest problem in the primary system is that the candidates drop out too soon. Candidates drop out of the race long before the rest of the nation has a chance to vote. How can the people of a state choose the best candidate if the options are eliminated before election day?
2. Not all regions are heard before candidates drop out. A win or a loss in one state does not mean anything when compared to the other states. The United States is very large, with diverse geography and cultures. All regions must be allowed to vote.
3. Smaller states have too much power. They are able to dictate candidate choices over larger and more populous states. I’ve spent most of my life in Texas and California, and I have been repeatedly irked by the power of states like New Hampshire and Iowa in the political primaries. The same thing happens every Presidential campaign. In Iowa and New Hampshire there are a dozen candidates on the ballot. In Texas and California we get only one or two candidates. Shouldn’t the most populous states have as many options for candidates in the primary as the smaller states? This seems only reasonable and fair.
4. Big states are not given a chance to vote for candidates. This is a crucial point, important enough to restate. As stated in #3, the larger states do not get a chance to vote for candidates. Although Texas and California are always the most populous states, the people are not given options for candidates. In essence, the larger states have become disenfranchised. The people of these states are not given the same voting rights as the people in other states.
We could also look at this from another way: electoral votes. The larger states have more electoral votes. Therefore it is only logical that these states have a greater say in which candidates get on the November ballot.
5. Candidates rarely visit the larger states. This is also a big problem. At best, if the candidate does visit the state, this candidate makes one campaign stop in the state, focusing on only one region. More commonly, most candidates make zero appearances in a larger state. No candidate, no interaction with the people. Nothing.
Every election cycle dozens of candidates travel back and forth throughout the small states like New Hampshire and Iowa. Towns are over run with candidates. They are everywhere, visiting delis and flipping pancakes. And yet in Texas and California? Nothing. Silence. Candidates don’t go to cafes and talk directly with the people. The candidates don’t even come to the state!
I have lived in the largest cities of these two large states over the past 20 years, and rarely has a presidential candidate come to visit. In fact, in all those years and all those cities I have only heard of two candidates in my metropolitan regions, and I have only seen one candidate.
Why don’t these candidates visit? This is mostly due to elitist thinking by candidates and their campaign managers. They see these states as not worth bothering with. This faulty, elitist thinking must be changed. Why should a citizen vote for a candidate that doesn’t care enough to visit that citizen’s state? I know many citizens who stay home on election day precisely because of this reason.
If we are to fix the primary system then there are three elements that must be met:
1. All regions of the United States must have a voice before candidates drop out.
2. States which are larger and/or more populous must be offered a variety of candidates.
3. Candidates must make the effort to visit with the people of all regions more frequently.
Next Blog: Overview of the Plan
Next Blog: Overview of the Plan
