I Can't Get Behind That

I can't get behind the changing presidential primary and caucus calendar. Every state in the union now wants to be the first caucus or the first primary. State legislatures and state parties in California, Florida, Michigan, Minnesota, Arizona, South Carolina, Nevada, Iowa, New Hampshire, Wyoming, Maine, Montana, Ohio, and just about every other state except Hawaii and Rhode Island have already or are currently considering moving their state's place in the primary/caucus calendar forward.

It's turned into this giant screwed up game of leap frog. And as a result, one of two things (or both) will happen:

1.) Each party's nominee will be chosen before we even ring in the new year because the game of leap frog will have pushed the earliest states into December. This is ridiculous on principle of course, but think about the day-to-day consequences. How much do we already enjoy the Holiday season? Throw in some serious presidential politics and see how much better it gets.

2.) Eventually every state will leap onto the same day or cluster of days, and we'll have a national primary. This is a really, really bad idea, people. The entire point of caucuses in a few supposedly representative states is to allow candidates to vie for the nomination without needing to raise and spend money on the same level as they would for a national campaign. It's a system that favors the wealthy likes of Hillary Clinton and discourages candidates like Kucinich and Ron Paul -- who contribute a lot to the discussion and debate even if they don't win the nomination. Furthermore, a national primary means that all the candidates will be fighting for California, New York, Texas, etc. because they have the most delegates. While I agree that Iowa and New Hampshire wield too much power as the first caucuses and primaries, I do think there's value in gaving states like them an important say in the nomination process.

I have a radical idea. Let's stick to the same calendar we had in 2004, only this time around, let's not count/reveal any of the votes from any of the caucuses or primaries until all of them have been held. That way, when Iowans choose the wrong candidate, they won't be starting a tidal wave.

I have another radical idea. Let's use instant runoff voting in all of the caucuses and primaries, so that each state isn't an all-or-nothing win. Instead, each state would divide up its delegates based on the percentage of votes each candidate got.

I have another radical idea. Let's legislate mandatory spending caps for both the nomination process and the general election. How different would the election be if candidates had to use their money wisely because there's not as much of it? My god, they might actually have to campaign with substance (and I'm not talking about the kind you inhale, although that probably wouldn't hurt either). Now that really is a radical idea.