From: Brian D Williams (talon57@well.com)
Date: Tue Nov 14 2000 - 08:38:59 MST
From: "Michael S. Lorrey" <retroman@turbont.net>
>Holding all primaries on the same day gives the advantage to the
>incumbent and/or whoever has the most money. Holding early
>primaries in small states allows a less affluent candidate to gain
>exposure and credibility (and thus the increased ability to raise
>funds for more expensive large states). McCain did well here in
>NH, and gave him enough exposure for the people to learn why he is
>more than what his handlers and the media said he was: he has a
>mean streak, holds grudges, has few friends among his co-workers,
>and is willing to spout the accepted government line on the 2nd
>amendment in order to get 'soccer mom votes, contrary to his
>claims. If there had not been a long period of exposure
>for McCain between NH/Iowa and Super Tuesday, most people would
>not have found this out. Additionally, if the primaries were not
>open primaries (i.e. people could cross party lines to vote in a
>primary), then 3rd party candidates would have better showing.
>Primaries are not to select popular candidates among the
>population, but popular candidates among party membership. If you
>insist on being an independent, then you shouldn't get to select
>which nominated candidate you get from each party. Thats what the
>write-in candidate is for.
In the current system it's a matter of semeiotics.
The reason New Hampshire matters is because New Hampshire is FIRST.
The amount of money spent per inhabitant is huge compared to later
on. As you correctly pointed out establishing an early lead means
a candidate can more easily gather additional funds.
The problem is that for the rest of us it eliminates choice. By the
time the primaries get to us in Illinois the only decision was
whether or not to bother going to the polls to vote for the only
guy still left in. I voted for Keyes, because he was still in the
running, (and I liked him) McCain dropped out the week before the
primary.
There is no reason to belong to a political party if your
membership has no affect on your ability to choose.
The primary system is badly flawed and needs to be
modified/replaced. I've already suggested an alternative in another
post.
Brian
Member:
Extropy Institute, www.extropy.org
Adler Planetarium www.adlerplanetarium.org
Life Extension Foundation, www.lef.org
National Rifle Association, www.nra.org, 1.800.672.3888
Ameritech Data Center Chicago, IL, Local 134 I.B.E.W
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