When the race to become the 2020 Democratic presidential nominee began last year, more than 20 candidates hit the campaign trail.
Less than two months after that mistake-prone first caucus, and before North Carolina voters had a chance to weigh in, only four solid candidates remained – and two dropped out immediately after the March 3 primary.
Four years ago, more than 20 candidates were running to become the Republican presidential nominee. By the time the primaries got to our state, there were just a few left with a realistic chance of winning.
The idea behind the Super Tuesday primaries was to give a larger number of states a chance to play a part in the presidential decision-making process. Yet, Iowa and New Hampshire – two smaller states that look little like the country as a whole – continue to have an oversized impact on who will move into the White House and become the de facto leader of the free world.
That’s not only unfair, it’s un-American. The country and the parties didn’t put those two states in charge, they just claimed it, and the rest of us have no obligation to play along. Instead, let’s revamp the entire primary system to ensure that voters in every state have good reason to pay close attention.
The U.S. Census Bureau breaks up the country into four statistical regions:
* Northeast (nine states) – Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Vermont.
* Midwest (12 states) – Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota and Wisconsin.
* South (17 states plus) – Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and West Virginia. (I’d move D.C., Delaware and Maryland into the Northeast to better balance the regions.)
* West (13 states) – Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington and Wyoming.
Imagine that we only have four primaries – one for each region. Holding those elections from February through May would allow more candidates to stay in the game until at least a dozen states have voted, a much fairer system than always starting off with the same two. And the number of delegates awarded in each state should be determined by the percentage of votes won by each candidate, not winner take all.
A random drawing should be held to pick the order, then rotate so every region has a chance to vote first. This would also lessen the advantage for wealthy candidates, as they wouldn’t be able
to funnel millions of dollars into just one state in order to be declared the “front-runner” and gain all the national media attention that comes with it.
As noted by political writer Joe Bialek, candidates today travel a path determined by which states “leap-frog” each other by moving up their primaries. They are whisked across the country without any real ability to distinguish regional issues from national issues. As a result, party platforms are all too often 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 better study the issues and propose real solutions. A regional approach would also prevent a premature selection of a front-runner because success in one region would not guarantee success in the next.
There is nothing in the U.S. Constitution to prevent holding four primaries in four months, just a longstanding tradition that needs to be changed. God help us, the 2024 elections will be here before you know it.
David Brown is regional publisher of The Graham Star. You can reach him in Murphy at 828-837-5122, Ext. 26; or email dbrown@cherokeescout.com.