POLITICAL PRIMARIES

JOEBIALEK · **Posted:** Tue Mar 09, 2004 11:17 pm

A political primary is a preliminary election in which the registered voters of a political party nominate candidates for office. The key word here is preliminary. The current system allows small states such as Iowa and New Hampshire {assisted by the media} to award front-runner status to the victorious candidate. From there the candidates travel a path determined by which states wants to "leap frog" the other by moving up their primary dates. Candidates are whisked across the country without any real ability to distinguish regional issues from national issues. Consequently, party platforms are determined by a make-it-up-as-you-go approach. If the primary process were organized on a regional basis, candidates would be able to study the regional issues, campaign to confirm those issues and then receive votes based on the solutions they propose. A regional approach would also prevent a premature selection of a front runner because success in one region certainly would not guarantee success in the next region. This would also further validate the process because each state would still have a say all the way down to the end. Finally, the number of delegates awarded in each state should be determined by the percentage of votes won by each candidate.

Accordingly, the political primaries should occur between January and June of each presidential election year. Each of the six regions would be assigned a particular month. A lottery held in June of the previous year would determine which month each region holds its primaries. An example illustrates the format:

January
Middle West (9):
Illinois, Iowa, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Ohio, Wisconsin

February
Southern ( Cool

:
Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia

March
Atlantic ( Cool

:
Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, New Jersey, North Carolina, South Carolina,

April
New England ( Cool

:
Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont,

May
Northwestern (9):
Alaska, Idaho, Kansas, Montana, North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota, Washington, Wyoming

June
Southwestern (9):
Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas, Utah

davehart · **Posted:** Wed Mar 10, 2004 1:24 am

As someone who has never voted and will never vote as I have no confidnece in politicians, or than anyone will do anything noticebly different than the last party in charge, this just aint my bag Smile

Stream · **Posted:** Wed Mar 10, 2004 8:35 am

The whole election process in the USA seems like a big joke anyway. The one with most money wins...

wonderbeen · **Posted:** Wed Mar 10, 2004 12:39 pm

We do have to pick the lesser of the evils here. So, at least we get that choice.

QbIx · **Posted:** Wed Mar 10, 2004 4:33 pm

((-&E-)) · **Posted:** Thu Mar 11, 2004 10:50 am

i just favour the one thats acts the less like a to$$er.... hence i never liked william hague...

as for politics... it doesnt interest me in the slightest.. and i dont understand it all either... Razz

White_Lightning · **Posted:** Thu Mar 11, 2004 2:55 pm

they are all a pack of bastards.....anyway no matter whos in power some one will be apposed its the basic fundimentals...its a no win situation really for whoevers in power

Viceroy · **Posted:** Thu Mar 11, 2004 11:15 pm