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Florida throws a wrench into the GOP primaries
Talk about the presidential campaign being a circus, the entire GOP primary schedule has just been thrown into chaos by Florida’s announcement that in violation of GOP rules it will move its primary up to January 31, a week ahead of the Iowa caucuses. Previously, the Iowa caucuses were to be on February 6, with the New Hampshire and South Carolina primaries and Nevada caucuses coming later in the month. But Florida’s peremptory action has pushed those four states to declare that they will move their dates up to January in order to maintain their first-in-the-nation status. What this means is that the primary process will now start in early January, and, if the jockeying continues, even in December. To punish Florida for its intransigence, the Republican National Committee has threatened not to seat Florida’s delegates at the Convention, a prospect rendered even more embarrassing by the fact that the GOP convention is taking place this year in Tampa.
Four years ago, thoughtful observers discussed the need to replace the current primary process with a more rational, representative, and effective system, and offered serious plans to do so. That did not happen. As a result, the states are still competing with each other like children in a playground to be “first,” and the way we select our candidates for the most powerful office in the world remains fodder for a modern Mencken.
As a result, the states are still competing with each other like children in a playground to be “first,” and the way we select our candidates for the most powerful office in the world remains fodder for a modern Mencken. Posted by Lawrence Auster at October 01, 2011 07:45 PM | Send Email entry |