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Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Front-loading the primaries: it works!

--Julia Weinberg, 360 Associate Producer

Call me an anarchist, but I think this condensed primary schedule is working brilliantly.

For all the fretting we heard this past year over the dangers of front-loading the process -- that it would give a leg up to the wealthier, well-known candidates, preventing the slow ascent of sleeper candidates -- well, so far that's just dead wrong.

Mitt Romney's millions didn't win him the gold in either of the first few contests -- instead we saw a relative unknown with little funding win Iowa, and a veteran candidate whose political tombstone was all but written this past summer, take New Hampshire.

Maybe we weren't giving enough credit to the voters -- who so far have rejected the perceived momentum of the winning candidate coming out of Iowa and now New Hampshire. Now it's looking like this race may go beyond SuperDuper Tuesday, and we're even hearing whispers of the forgotten words, "brokered convention" -- something this country hasn't seen since the 1952!

What do you think: Is this primary schedule too hectic? Is it good for the country? Send us your thoughts!

Posted By CNN: 8:35 PM ET
13 Comments

While its fascinating to watch all these primaries I feel like I don't have enough time with this schedule to really take a good look at all the candidates and their platforms and make a good choice.

Haste makes waste. I hope in this case haste doesn't make a bad choice that we will have to live with another 4 or 8 years.

Annie Kate
Birmingham AL

Posted By

Annie Kate : 10:17 PM ET

No...it's not hectic at all. In fact I think it is good to have them back to back because the candidates don't have a chance to rethink anything. So they have to really tell the truth on their views.I actually think that it is great!

I think we won't have a frontrunner at all on either side until we get to the conventions.

Cynthia, Covington, Ga.

Posted By

Cindy : 10:19 PM ET

I think it's cool that we had a little taste of primary action early in Jan., and now there'll be an explosion of voting on Feb 5 when 20-something states get their chance. I don't think most people were that informed about the primary schedule before this year to compare it to the new process.

Posted By

Riley R - Exeter, Ma. : 10:44 PM ET

Poster at 10:17pm, you have to be joking. We're in the middle of a year long election season. Most people know their core beliefs already, and there has been over 20 debates ! Not enough time to know the candidates? I think this is being drawn out waaaay too long !!

Posted By

Jason, Boston, Ma. : 11:04 PM ET

We're in the middle of a year-long election cycle. There's been over 20 debates! Most people know their core beliefs already. So this election is waaaaay too long.

Posted By

Jason, Boston, Ma. : 11:08 PM ET

The primary season in this country is a joke and is hurting elections(along with a myriad of other things). Election cycles are far too long in this country and the primaries are incredibly undemocratic. Allowing certain states to vote before others gives those populations the advantage in choosing the nominees. States with primaries in April and May either don't bother or simply cast their ineffectual vote on principle. There should be a national primary and a runoff election for whoever gets the top percentages.

Posted By

Becca, Louisville, KY : 11:28 PM ET

The primaries just seem chaotic and disorganized, but them most political things are confusing.

Posted By

michele v, las vegas, nv. : 11:53 PM ET

The only thing I think is bad for the country is that some states are already feeling left out. It's never good when things seem unfair, so I'd be in favor of one primary day for all states. The candidates have plenty of time to campaign around the country in January, then we'd vote all together in February. Can't we make it that simple?

Posted By

Jamie, Ft. Smith, Ar. : 11:57 PM ET

If it does go to a brokered convention, I think the Republicans with less delegates will have an easier time being agreeable and convincing their delegates to switch to a different cand. I don't think the Democrats will have an easy time of it, given the horrible disagreements between Obama and Hillary.

Posted By

Bill, Denver Co. : 12:07 AM ET

"Why is my life so tame, I like my life insane!!!!" Who doesn't like hectic. Simple is boring. The system definately has a few kinks but it's pretty awesome a system can work so well and accomodate so many groups of people. Just proud to be an American and I can say with confidence that I'll be in the system changing things some day. World Peace!!!!!! and GO PACKERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Posted By

Sarah C. Salim Bend, Oregon : 12:52 AM ET

One positive effect of the compressed schedule is that candidates don't have enough money for heavy advertising in all the states voting on Super Tuesday. Our election is in just a few weeks here in California and the only ads on TV have been those over the propositions on the ballot on Indian gaming. I find political attack ads really hard to take, so I'm just thrilled to have been spared from them so far in this election.

Posted By

Barbara in Culver City, CA : 1:13 AM ET

Actually, here's an idea that I'm sure will get traction with all those burned-out political junkies:

Have the primaries and general election back-to-back! No year-long campaign. Just make every body make up their mind in two short days. That'll show them who's boss.

Monday, November 3, choose your candidates... Tuesday, November 4th, choose your president.

Think about it. No waffling... no flip-flopping... bang, ker-pow... two days and we're done. Then we can forget about the president again and get back to waiting for the end of the writer's strike.

Posted By

Robert - Jakarta : 2:08 AM ET

I personally do not like certain parts of the current primary process. I feel the only positive is that a small, underfunded candidate can shine in Iowa/New Hampshire and take momentum into the rest of the primaries. However, why should Iowa and New Hampshire get a stage and a spotlight in choosing our candidates, while states like Michigan get chastised for trying to compete for national attention. This year it happened to work that there is no front-runner in either party after Iowa and New Hampshire. Remembering back to 2004, when Kerry took Iowa, the convention and the rest of primaries were afterthoughts.
I think that there should be 4 primary dates and split the states up so approximately a quarter of the population votes on each day. Space the primaries out every 3-4 weeks so candidates have a chance to visit the states and talk to the voters. This is a compromise that would enable an under-funded candidate to potentially have an impact on the first primary date, but it won't leave one state with so much impact in choosing our presidential candidates. Additionally, the candidates would need to engage in broader debates impacting the whole country, instead of pandering to a specific interest in a single state.
While we're at it, can we get rid of the electoral college and just have a majority vote presidential election?

Posted By

Jason, New York, NY : 1:06 PM ET

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