The terrible primary system, again

I have said that the presidential primary system should either be radically reformed (see my January 2008 discussion of the “Delaware plan”) or, preferably, thrown out altogether, with the parties returning to the old nomination convention system in which experienced political actors get together and pick the best man.

Jay Cost writing at the Weekly Standard also wants to get rid of the primary system (a product, he points out, of the left wing of the Democratic Party which the Republicans then dutifully imitated) and return to real nominating conventions. He says that this would “revitalize the state and local parties and hopefully facilitate a more deliberative process that encourages consensus, reduces the power of the establishment, and costs less.”

Posted by Lawrence Auster at October 12, 2011 08:41 AM | Send