The Primary System

CounterSpin this week (program began airing Friday) featured an interview conducted by Janine Jackson in the last segment. Rob Richie of Fair Vote was the guest and the interview was about the primary process.



"Iowa and New Hampshire have the self-proclaimed right to be first," Richie stated explaining the modern day history of primaries, something no one ever talks about. The parties set February 5th as the date this year that states could hold primaries so you ended up with the bulk of the states not granted the 'right' of going first rushing in for what is essentially "a national primary."



Jackson pointed to an AP and Yahoo poll that found "80% of respondents said they would prefer states to take turns holding primaries and caucuses first."



We would agree with the 80% and Wally and Cedric have repeatedly as they've covered the way Florida and Michigan have been threatened with penalties (no delegates being seated at the Democratic National Convention this year is the threat). NPR's The Diane Rehm Show has tackled this issue, for which people are thankful. But independent media hasn't been there. So we were very pleased to hear this interview on CounterSpin. When we've tackled the issue here, we've gotten many grateful e-mails. We hope those of you who've written on this topic will check out CounterSpin's broadcast (if you missed it) and let them know that you're glad they covered the topic.



"Iowa" is the most recent thing we've run here on the topic and the point is best made, we think, by pointing out that every four years the Olympics are rotated. So why aren't the primaries and caucuses?



Jackson and Richie addressed how the current set-up means some votes have more weight, how some states are left out by the process, how some candidates drop out based on a very small pool of voters and how other candidates are badgered by the press to drop out based on the earliest of early results. It is not a fair process, it is not a democratic process.





Fix the primaries provides a variety of views on the subject.



Richie tied the primary process (and delegates) to the issue of the general election which is not a direct election. He shared his belief that states are moving to a direct election (where citizens would vote for presidential candidates directly and not for a set of delegates to the electoral college).



We plan to note Black Agenda Report's Glen Ford, who was the first interview in the program, in the "truest statement"s pieces, but we'll note hear that if you missed the program, it's a strong broadcast from start to finish.



Outside of the program, we'll note that Hillary Clinton's campaign has made the common sense call for delegates from Michigan and Florida to be seated at the DNC convention this week. As usual when common sense comes from the Clinton camp, the nasties boo and hiss. Guess what, that's not really the issue. Your hatred for Hillary Clinton isn't the issue. Yes, Hillary won Michigan. Florida hasn't held their primary election. Wally notes he sees Barack Obama on cable every time he turns around and none of the Democratic candidates are supposed to be advertising in Florida.



The real issue is whether or not the DNC is going to get away with denying two states their delegates? If you're for that, you're not really for democracy. You can hide behind "Hillary won Michigan!" all you want, but it's not about Hillary. It's about two states that are being bullied by the DNC. And that position was expressed by this community before any primary or caucus was held.