Let The States Take Turns

Do Iowa and New Hampshire have too much say in the early candidate selection processes? Obviously, they aren't going to think so. The polls bear that out. Many residents of those states wish they had even more.

To hang onto their influence those two states even have laws mandating they schedule their events before the other states in the nation. To try to get more of a say in the early process other states have moved their events up. This has resulted in the present situation where we have both of the first two contests ending just days from now. The general consensus is that (for the Democrats, at least) the apparent party nominee will have emerged by February 5th.

Personally, I would have preferred a more drawn out process. There are lots of issues that need to be explored. Furthermore, as events of the past seven days have shown, world events can take sudden decisive turns in short periods of time. A longer process would allow more opportunities to observe how the candidates respond to a changing world.

No matter who is elected to the office of President next November, that person will be taking office near the end of January 2009 in a different world from the one we have now. Drawing the selection process out allows presidential candidates to react to and address a wider range of situations. This could give the voters a greater feel of confidence in their selections.

As long as early primary and caucus states have disproportionate influence on the outcome of the process, we are going to stuck with this state competition to be out in front. That means ridiculously early primaries and caucuses. Yet, we cannot expect states to sit quietly by and do nothing while rival states move to the beginning of the line.

I believe the time has come for a nationally mandated rotation of the order and determination of the dates. While the states currently have the right to set their own primary/caucus dates, the national conventions are under no obligation to respect them. We are already seeing states being told their delegates will not be recognized because they stepped outside the lines. A fair rotation system would head off a more widespread rebellion.

That would mean that sometimes Iowa or New Hampshire might actually be at the end of the line. The process also needs to be spread out enough to allow candidates to get around to all the states. There is nothing like that in place now. And, unfortunately, nothing like that is going to be in place before 2012.

That's Wade's two cents.

Wade Houston
January 1, 2008