If nothing else, the recent election-night fiasco in Iowa should drive a stake in the heart of whats become known as the All-Important Iowa Caucus. And not just because of Democrats inability to produce timely results. This issue goes way beyond an app failure.
The parties have allowed this small, non-representative state to have far too much electoral weight for far too long. By the same token, New Hampshires oversized role in the nominations process also needs to be scrapped.
In the last 40 years, only Bill Clinton has bucked tradition by getting the nomination without winning either Iowa or New Hampshire. Why do these two states deserve to always winnow the field?
New Hampshire has voted first for 100 years because the first primary was staged there in 1920. Then Jimmy Carter discovered, in 1976, that Iowa had a caucus before New Hampshire and upstaged other candidates by organizing there and gaining media attention.
Because these states have always been first and have taken their job seriously is not good enough reason for the parties to continue to defend this tradition.
Neither state reflects the diversity of the nation. Iowa is a small, rural state, at least 90% white. On the Republican side, Iowans have tended in the past to reward religious or social conservatives. New Hampshire is 93% white, older, better educated, more progressive than other states. New Hampshires population is 1.3 million (think Dallas), and its largest city is 100,000.
Democratic candidates who reflected a more racially or ethnically diverse field and more populous states Kamala Harris (California), Cory Booker (New Jersey) and Julin Castro (Texas) all dropped out of the race before Iowa and New Hampshire.
Then theres the messiness of the Iowa process. Its complicated, as the first in a four-step convention process that ultimately chooses national convention delegates.
This year Iowa became even more complicated when party officials wanted additional data reported.
Each precinct was asked to tabulate not just the traditional share of delegates won but also the first choice of those attending (which would reflect votes for candidates who didnt reach viability and therefore didnt get delegates). That actually muddies the question of who won, because if a candidate doesnt get 15% in the precinct, his or her voters must go with a second choice or uncommitted.
Tabulation, done by the party, not the state, has often been tricky. In the 2012 Republican caucus, Mitt Romney was initially declared the winner. Two weeks later, it was changed to Rick Santorum. And the candidate who finished third on caucus night, Ron Paul, eventually controlled the national convention delegation.
Why not just have a primary? Let people vote. Then apportion delegates according to that vote.
Every state can determine by law when to have its primary or caucus. But the parties set the rules that produce the nominating conventions. They can establish calendar rules and deny seats at the national convention to states that dont comply. And candidates can refuse to campaign in those states.
With recent years has come incremental change. South Carolina and Nevada were allowed to go after Iowa and New Hampshire to insert more diverse states earlier in the process, before the floodgates of Super Tuesday. This year, that will be 14 states voting on March 3, including Texas and California.
More wholesale changes have been considered in recent years. Some ideas include rotating early primaries among states that are more representative according to race, age, education and income. Or the country could be divided into a few sections, with the sections rotating in presidential years.
A one-day national primary has failed to gain support because advocates of the current system tout the retail politics of the two smaller states, and say a one-day national primary would reward big spenders. But a rotating system could still allow for some face-to-face between candidates and voters, as well as a fairer winnowing process.
What rearranging the calendar would do is eliminate the media hype of Iowa and New Hampshire. George H.W. Bush recognized it when he won Iowa in 1980. As he said, its all about creating Big Mo, i.e. big momentum.
Iowa and New Hampshire, of course, will fight any change. Millions are spent by candidate organizations and the media, chasing candidates from town halls to diners. TV has made a production night out of events like caucus night in Iowa, which backfired when there were no results to announce just wasted air time and debatable Big Mo.
The people in other states deserve the right to have more say in the process, but they will have to demand it of their elected officials and party leaders. Simply said, its time to rethink the attention given to these two small states and their impact on the rest of the nation.
Carolyn Barta is a retired journalism professor at Southern Methodist University and former political writer for The Dallas Morning News.
Go here to read the rest:
Iowa and New Hampshire have no business leading the nomination process - The Dallas Morning News
- Ron Paul Forums / Rand Paul Forums - Grassroots Central Updates - February 6th, 2018 [February 6th, 2018]
- The Ron Paul Institute for Peace and Prosperity : What the ... - February 6th, 2018 [February 6th, 2018]
- The Libertarian Party Won't Let Ron Paul Speak at Their ... - February 6th, 2018 [February 6th, 2018]
- Barnds brothers lawn and garden, Overland park, Kansas ... - February 23rd, 2018 [February 23rd, 2018]
- Ron Paul .com - March 20th, 2018 [March 20th, 2018]
- Aaron Paul, Ron Cephas Jones Round Out Cast of Apples ... - June 19th, 2018 [June 19th, 2018]
- Ron Paul presidential campaign, 2012 - Wikipedia - June 29th, 2018 [June 29th, 2018]
- Ron Paul: U.S. secession is already 'happening' | MSNBC - June 29th, 2018 [June 29th, 2018]
- Ron Paul tweets racist, anti-Semitic cartoon before ... - July 4th, 2018 [July 4th, 2018]
- Ron Paul Blames Shockingly Racist, Anti-Semitic Tweet On ... - July 9th, 2018 [July 9th, 2018]
- Ron Paul, former presidential candidate, tweets racist and ... - July 9th, 2018 [July 9th, 2018]
- Ron Paul: 'Trump Won' in Summit with Putin, 'Neocons Aren't ... - July 19th, 2018 [July 19th, 2018]
- Ron Paul warns that this is the 'biggest bubble in the ... - July 19th, 2018 [July 19th, 2018]
- Ron Paul disavows racist newsletters under his name - CBS News - July 25th, 2018 [July 25th, 2018]
- Ron Paul Exposes The Human Suffering Of "Cultural Marxism" - July 25th, 2018 [July 25th, 2018]
- The Ron Paul Institute for Peace and Prosperity : Spending ... - July 28th, 2018 [July 28th, 2018]
- Wikipedia Listed Ron Paul On White Supremacists List For ... - August 1st, 2018 [August 1st, 2018]
- The Ron Paul Institute for Peace and Prosperity : Neocons ... - August 9th, 2018 [August 9th, 2018]
- Ron Paul: The Mueller Indictments & The Triumph Of The Deep ... - September 4th, 2018 [September 4th, 2018]
- The Ron Paul Institute for Peace and Prosperity : Cant We ... - September 4th, 2018 [September 4th, 2018]
- The Ron Paul Institute for Peace and Prosperity : NAFTA 2.0 ... - October 9th, 2018 [October 9th, 2018]
- Ron Paul, Rising Political Star - CBS News - November 12th, 2018 [November 12th, 2018]
- Ron Paul: US is barreling towards a 50% or more stock ... - November 13th, 2018 [November 13th, 2018]
- Ron Paul Tweets Racist, Anti-Semitic Cartoon - December 5th, 2018 [December 5th, 2018]
- TNR Exclusive: A Collection of Ron Pauls Most Incendiary ... - December 5th, 2018 [December 5th, 2018]
- Ron Paul: Foreign interventionism isnt the America First ... - December 5th, 2018 [December 5th, 2018]
- Ron Paul's LANDSLIDE VICTORY! (327-98) | SVTPerformance.com - December 17th, 2018 [December 17th, 2018]
- The Ron Paul Revolution - Taki's Magazine - takimag.com - December 17th, 2018 [December 17th, 2018]
- Ron Paul: Market meltdown could spark depression-like conditions - December 18th, 2018 [December 18th, 2018]
- The Ron Paul Institute for Peace and Prosperity : Why The ... - December 23rd, 2018 [December 23rd, 2018]
- Ron Paul: US is barreling towards a 50% or more stock market drop - December 29th, 2018 [December 29th, 2018]
- Ron Paul | American politician | Britannica.com - December 29th, 2018 [December 29th, 2018]
- Ron Paul: Troops Out Of Syria And Afghanistan? That's A Good ... - December 29th, 2018 [December 29th, 2018]
- Ron Paul: Troops Out of Syria and Afghanistan? Thats a Good ... - December 29th, 2018 [December 29th, 2018]
- US needs to withdraw all troops from Mideast: Ron Paul - December 29th, 2018 [December 29th, 2018]
- Ron Paul: Trump's decision to withdraw US troops from Syria ... - December 29th, 2018 [December 29th, 2018]
- Stem Cell Therapy - Top Rated Local Stem Cell Treatment In ... - January 1st, 2019 [January 1st, 2019]
- The Power of Stem Cells | California's Stem Cell Agency - January 1st, 2019 [January 1st, 2019]
- xkcd: Secretary: Part 2 - February 19th, 2019 [February 19th, 2019]
- Ron Paul - Official Site - March 21st, 2019 [March 21st, 2019]
- GOP candidates blast Ron Paul over Iran policy. Is one side ... - April 5th, 2019 [April 5th, 2019]
- 'Racist newsletter' timeline: What Ron Paul has said ... - April 5th, 2019 [April 5th, 2019]
- Ron Paul spent $35M, yet only got 40,000 votes nationwide ... - April 5th, 2019 [April 5th, 2019]
- RON PAUL: Is he the ONLY candidate who can speak PLAIN ... - May 1st, 2019 [May 1st, 2019]
- Ron Paul - amazon.com - May 1st, 2019 [May 1st, 2019]
- Ron Paul TV Archives & Latest Videos | MidEast News Syria - May 1st, 2019 [May 1st, 2019]
- Ron Paul: False Flag Could Ignite War in Venezuela - May 2nd, 2019 [May 2nd, 2019]
- The Dollar Is Going to Self Destruct: Talking Bitcoin With ... - May 23rd, 2019 [May 23rd, 2019]
- Inside Ron Paul's Counter-Convention | Vanity Fair - May 23rd, 2019 [May 23rd, 2019]
- Ron Paul: Julian Assange, Political Prisoner OpEd Eurasia ... - May 23rd, 2019 [May 23rd, 2019]
- Ron Paul | Abortion | Pro-Life Profiles - May 23rd, 2019 [May 23rd, 2019]
- Ron Paul, Author at Antiwar.com Original - May 23rd, 2019 [May 23rd, 2019]
- Rev. Ron Moore: Three reasons to be thankful - State-Journal.com - November 29th, 2019 [November 29th, 2019]
- What Is Happening With Rand Paul? (2019-11-28) - Biology Reporter - November 29th, 2019 [November 29th, 2019]
- 'I dont have a facade': How Kane went from WWE icon to elected office - Yahoo Sports - November 29th, 2019 [November 29th, 2019]
- The Conservative Establishment's Nightmare Is Only Just Beginning - Washington Monthly - November 29th, 2019 [November 29th, 2019]
- Texas' 22nd Congressional District: History of the Seat and a Breakdown of the Current Race - The Texan - November 29th, 2019 [November 29th, 2019]
- Getting Hot Late Is Usually the Key to Winning Iowa - New York Magazine - November 29th, 2019 [November 29th, 2019]
- Ron Paul: The Real Bombshell Of The Impeachment Hearings OpEd - Eurasia Review - November 29th, 2019 [November 29th, 2019]
- Americans are sick and tired of impeachment and grandstanding & chicanery of both parties Ron Paul - RT - November 29th, 2019 [November 29th, 2019]
- McCain conservatives are rallying behind Justin Amash - Hot Air - December 27th, 2019 [December 27th, 2019]
- Ron Paul: How Congress And The Federal Reserve Stole Christmas OpEd - Eurasia Review - December 27th, 2019 [December 27th, 2019]
- What it's like to shoot Cher, Anna Wintour and others at Met Gala - Page Six - December 29th, 2019 [December 29th, 2019]
- The 2019 Wypipo Awards: End of the Decade Edition - The Root - December 29th, 2019 [December 29th, 2019]
- Recreational bowling scoreboard - The Times Herald - December 29th, 2019 [December 29th, 2019]
- How Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum have found balance, complement each other, and propel the Boston Celtics - MassLive.com - December 29th, 2019 [December 29th, 2019]
- Why These Might Be The Most Competitive Iowa Caucuses Ever - FiveThirtyEight - January 30th, 2020 [January 30th, 2020]
- A Million Iraqis Asked Us To Leave We Should Listen - Antiwar.com - January 30th, 2020 [January 30th, 2020]
- How The Iowa Caucuses Work And Why They're Important | NPR - KCRW - January 30th, 2020 [January 30th, 2020]
- 12 Wild Hours With Andrew Yang - POLITICO - February 12th, 2020 [February 12th, 2020]
- Dwayne Haskins is 'All For Competition' To Be The Redskins Starting Quarterback - Redskins.com - February 12th, 2020 [February 12th, 2020]
- Andrew Yang makes his stand in New Hampshire - POLITICO - February 12th, 2020 [February 12th, 2020]
- Unbuilt Portland: 4 big projects that never happened... yet - Pamplin Media Group - February 12th, 2020 [February 12th, 2020]
- Big Swinging Brains and fashy trolls: how the world fell into a clickbait death spiral - The Guardian - February 12th, 2020 [February 12th, 2020]
- Judy Shelton and the - New York Sun - February 12th, 2020 [February 12th, 2020]
- Pardon the Interrupters: meet the ska-punks with an InfoWars problem - Telegraph.co.uk - February 29th, 2020 [February 29th, 2020]
- Ron Paul: Trump Does The Bidding Of Deep State - The National Memo - February 29th, 2020 [February 29th, 2020]
- Health Care Is On Coloradans' Minds. This Is Where The 2020 Presidential Candidates Stand - Colorado Public Radio - February 29th, 2020 [February 29th, 2020]
- The immorality of US hegemony with Ron Paul - RT - February 29th, 2020 [February 29th, 2020]
- Afghanistan: 'Thank Allah We're Out of That Quagmire' - Consortium News - March 8th, 2020 [March 8th, 2020]