Posted on 08/21/2006 4:39:43 PM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin
To boost diversity in presidential nominating votes, they put Nevada's and South Carolina's sooner
Move over Iowa and New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina are now members of the Democratic Party's "early nominators" club.
By adding new states to its early roster of presidential nominating contests, the Democratic National Committee (DNC) aims to add racial and geographic diversity to the selection process.
(Excerpt) Read more at csmonitor.com ...
The new schedule reflects a long-held concern in national party circles that Iowa and New Hampshire are both more white than the nation as a whole, and that their disproportionate clout in determining Democratic presidential nominees was giving blacks and Hispanics short shrift. Nevada, the fastest-growing state in the country, has more Hispanics than the national norm; South Carolina has a large African-American population.
"It's an opportunity for the candidates to speak in a broader way to Democrats across the country," said Alexis Herman, co-chair of the DNC's rules committee, according to the Associated Press.
But New Hampshire Democrats are unhappy over the loss of clout, and it's not clear that they will go along. Aware that this change could be coming, they have long discussed the possibility of holding their primaries in early January 2008, or even in late 2007. To discourage this from happening, the national Democrats adopted a plan that would penalize any candidate who campaigns in a state that defies the new system: Delegates won in such a "rogue" state would not count toward nomination at the summer convention.
If New Hampshire bucks the new system and moves its primary to an earlier date, some candidates may decide the loss of those delegates - a relatively small number, given the state's size - in exchange for the publicity of winning the contest is a worthwhile gamble. If New Hampshire goes its own way, other states may opt to do the same.
But in the end, all the discussion about scheduling undergirds a larger question: Will the plan produce a better nominee - one more capable of winning the presidency?
"It's hard to tell," says John Green, a political scientist at the University of Akron in Ohio. "If you look back at the past manipulations of the primary season, by both parties, they have often not produced the desired results."
In 1988, he notes, Southern Democrats set up "Super Tuesday" - a single day of primaries across the South - to boost the region's clout in the nominating process, in the hope that then-Sen. Al Gore (D) of Tennessee would win. Michael Dukakis, then-governor of Massachusetts, ended up securing the nomination.
Professor Green also points out that it's too early to predict the dynamics of the race for the 2008 nominations. Based on potential candidates' actions now - who's working to build a national coalition, fundraising base, and staff, and who's already visiting New Hampshire and Iowa - it's easy to see who's thinking of running but it's not certain who ultimately will.
"If a strong liberal wins in Iowa, that could create a dynamic in which South Carolina and Nevada don't even matter," says Green.
By setting up a packed schedule of early contests, the Democratic Party appears to be forcing candidates to hopscotch around the country, which would make it difficult for them to engage in the kind of living-room politics that became the hallmark of Iowa and New Hampshire. It's possible, therefore, that some candidates will choose to forgo some of those first four states, and gamble on an attempt to win big in just one or two.
2 blacks, a jew, a woman and a cripple?
The Dems in Michigan still think that building their usualy coalition (big labor, NAACP, college profs, et al) that they can carry elections. Maybe that's their idea with this new schedule?
Great strategy..... appeal to minorities and alienate the north east.
The year we run out of 'Rich White Guys' to run this country...I'm outta here. ;)
And The Beast thinks she has 'A Snowball's Chance?' LOL!
We've seen this part before:
all the discussion about scheduling undergirds a larger question: Will the plan produce a better nominee - one more capable of winning the presidency?
As Rush says, they still don't get it. This is just another example of trying to game the rules of the system (their own rules and their own system, to boot) rather than having ideas and plans and so on.
Of course, fratricide is perhaps the most noteworthy aspect of a new Democrat scheme:
the national Democrats adopted a plan that would penalize any candidate who campaigns in a state that defies the new system: Delegates won in such a "rogue" state would not count toward nomination at the summer convention.
I really need a barf bag for this one.
Sounds like profiling to me!
Where's the ACLU?
Where's the ACLU?
Cheering this on ???
/sarc off
The Democrats are notorious for not nominating blacks and hispanics to statewide offices. Illinois is the only one that has had black Democrat Senators in the modern era, IIRC. The only "hispanic" governor is Bill Richardson, and his hispanic credentials seem to consist of having a blonde mother who was born in Mexico City.
If you look at statewide offices and representatives in non-racially-gerrymandered districts, I'm willing to bet there are more minority Republicans in such offices than Democrats. Certainly the number of such nominees is huge, especially compared to the number of minority Republican voters.
Democrats repeatedly give blacks in particular second class status. They can hold office as long as they don't take that office from a white Democrat.
You vill campaign vere ve say and ven ve say! You vill NOT deviate from zis formaat unless vee tell you to ... zeez are ORDERS!!!
Playing the "Race" card once more.
From Herr Fhurer Dean !
So now they will nominate Butthead instead of Beavis.
DNC Chairman Howard Dean Meets With Muslim American Leaders
5/18/2006 5:45:00 PM
http://www.masnet.org/articleinterest.asp?id=3333
..."I look forward to continuing to work with the leaders of the Muslim American community to advance our shared values and goals for America." (Howard Dean, 5/17/2006)
Wow. If that doesn't sum up the Looney Left nicely, I don't know what does!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.