Make NJ first: more representative of what America looks like, small enough to travel, best access to media markets and weād be less likely to get a mouth-breather as R nominee.
It would be better if Iowa and New Hamsphire were more representative of the US population, but there is value in having them go first in the presidential campaign season, because they are small states in which a candidate without a huge campaign account or organization has a chance to break into the national spotlight. Iām from Massachusetts, so I donāt get that, but I know people in New Hampshire who say they wonāt vote for a presidential candidate who hasnāt been in their living room. I think they really mean a candidate they havenāt met in someoneās home, but the idea is clear, and not a bad one in a huge nation that aspires to democracy.
Uhhh, who cares? Although I guess you could say they do predict who will win. The other candidate.
I have mixed feelings about the IA Caucus and NH primaries being first. I understand that somebody has to be 1st and 2nd and old_curmudgeon makes some good points. However, the 2 of them only total 10 EC votes and their electorate is hardly representative of the general electorate. At least the calendar is somewhat balanced by Nevada and South Carolina being next.
Gardner, who is one of just three secretaries of state chosen by a state legislature, is under fire from fellow Democrats for his participation in President Donald Trumpās commission on voter fraud and for backing GOP legislation to tighten voter registration rules.
I do not see how this politicizes āthe officeā of Secāy of State. These are positions on issues. It sounds to me as if the replacement (Colin Van Ostern ā a longtime political operative and the 2016 Democratic nominee for governor) may politicize the office.
New Hampshireās main role is to say ānot so fastā to the candidate who wins the Iowa caucus, not to identify the eventual nominee.
Why make any particular state āfirstā? Iāve said ad nauseum that we need to do regions, with those regions rotating every four years. Allocate approximately equal proportions of citizens to those regions (yeah CA would be a problem but we can work that out) and have the candidates make their case to a whole group of the electorate. And if Dems start, the 'pukes will follow.
Iām not saying that the race to be the first primary state is getting ridiculous, but candidates and campaign teams have been in New Hampshire for several weeks already, traveling by time machine to compete in the first primary for the 2148 election.
the caucus system sucks.
National primary with consistency among states, and paper ballots. Make it a holiday.
I think that the caucus system is good for smaller states, with more rural populations. It is a form of civil engagement.
Voters in NH that I know will not miss the ads, phone calls, and diner-clogging frenzy if they become just another swing state primary. Iām told Ohio is the worst place to live before presidential elections.
itās good for people who support certain candidates in the first few states that vote and have no problem foisting their choice on the rest of the country. beyond that, it sucks.
Gardner is 70 years old and heās been in this one job since 1976! His primary responsibility is NOT keeping NH first in the nation; itās overseeing free and fair elections. His willing participation in the Kobach commission was a bit suspect and he only made tepid objections to insanely egregious claims by DT and Kobach (with an assist from the NH Ā® Speaker) that there was massive voter fraud in NH. Maybe he was playing it carefully, but his Maine counterpart, Maine SofS Dunlap, defended the truth quite vocally and ended up a voter-integrity hero in his eventual suing of the very commission he was a member of to obtain the actual āresearchā compiled but not shared by the R side of the committee. Rather than actually deliver that āresearchā, the DT administration killed the commission two weeks later. Gardner showed no such commitment to the truth, even after Kobach had terribly and intentionally maligned the integrity of the system Gardner had managed for 40+ years.
" These are positions on issues"
And what kind of issues are they?
Granite Stater here: What you said. Describing Van Ostern as a "political operative " dismisses him unfairly. Heās a smart and capable guy who only lost to Sununu because of name recognition.
The GOP is politicizing the position just by saying that a Dem canāt do it. You have to stand up to bullies.
Absolutely agree. Shorten the election cycle - put all the states on equal footing. Have Oxford style debates published on something like C-Span - available to every one. Or make them available via transcripts. Stop the circus of personality horse-race type competition. Or have each candidate record statements and disallow talking about opponents. (Of course I know it is revolutionary, unrealistic, etc.)
IMO - Brilliantā>All states vote on the same day ā holiday is a good idea
All candidates have a chance to be heard equally
Far less time and far less money on campaign.