Posted on 08/06/2010 4:15:20 PM PDT by The Pack Knight
KANSAS CITY, MO. -- The Republican National Committee adopted a new schedule for the 2012 presidential primaries Friday, agreeing to a plan worked out in concert with Democrats and designed to delay the start of the campaign season.
The proposal, drafted by a special RNC panel, gained approval from more than the necessary two-thirds of the committee's 168 members.
Party leaders hailed the vote as a historic change in the presidential selection process, one that would avoid the development of a single national primary in which states choose to hold their nominating contests on the same day.
The new schedule is designed to make it difficult for a candidate to rack up an insurmountable number of delegates early in the process, forcing candidates to campaign across the country.
Under the new schedule, no state would hold a primary or caucus before the first Tuesday in February 2012, in attempt to avoid a repetition of 2008, when the Iowa caucuses were held Jan. 3.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
The other big rule is that other primaries can only be held in March if delegates are awarded proportionally; winner-take-all primaries must be held in April or later.
I'm still trying to figure out what this will mean other than the fact that it will hopefully bring a bit of sanity back to the schedule.
What are the arguments for an all-in-one-day primary election nationwide?
are they starting with LIndsay’s home state...RNC better get their act together...Kagan approval tells me they wont..we have two on the court now or is it 3..so its already tilted.
It maybe helps people like Sarah...because you have to have a grassroots effort to win instead of just massive TV ads... Mitt’s style, from my understanding of it
There will be no knock out punch for candidates, but long protracted process
Those of us on the bottom of the voting list, according to state, don't get a full ballot - and it sucks.
I think the big argument is that the later primaries are essentially rendered moot, denying voters in those states any real say in the nomination process.
I know that was the case with my vote in North Carolina - McCain had already clinched the nomination, and the only four names on the ballot were McCain, Keyes, Huckabee, and Paul. Of course, the N.C. primary was very important on the Democrat side, which shows that staggered primaries can sometimes enhance the importance of later primaries.
Correct. Grassroots campaigns, and primaries will matter in red states where Republicans are more conservative.
No more locking-up the nomination by winning in big blue states or blue states in the northeast, where Republicans are not conservatives.
I think the changes will definitely benefit Sarah, should she decide to run. Mitt’s money can buy a lot of TV ads, but it’ll come down to getting out the vote and I don’t expect Sarah will be all that short of money either.
This would definitely stretch the process out more. Last year, the Republican contest was decided on Super Tuesday, the second week of Feburary. If this goes through, many states will have to select new primary election days since so many were bunched in February in 2008.
But as long as there are no runoffs in the state primaries, we can always get a result with several conservatives splitting the conservative vote, allowing some RINO to have the most votes in a given state, in a state where if a runoff were held, the top conservative would handily defeat the RINO in a one-on-one contest.
This was thrown in the hopper to protect Duncan Hunter or someone like him with a clear, differentiated message. We want to give them a chance to catch fire or at least have an impact on the national message. The main beneficiary now, of course, would be Governor Palin.
Oh gosh, than you for *that*. I’m sure we haven’t heard the last word...lol.
I didn’t click to the article, having read about the changes at C4P.
The system sucks.
Why the hell does Iowa go first?
I think the RNC needs to close all open primaries too. No more registered Dimbocrats voting in our primaries.
It matters little what the schedule is when conservative Republicans are willing to accept a process in which liberals get to decide who their nominee for President will be.
It’s one of the stupidest things ever foisted on a gullible public, frankly.
Voters decide the nominee(s)
...and that will not be the candidate from your wee Party.
You don’t have any problem with a party nominating process that includes those who stand against the party’s platform, eh?
Why let Democrats vote in our elections and pick whom they are going to run against?
“I think the RNC needs to close all open primaries too. No more registered Dimbocrats voting in our primaries”
I totally agree with you. I however, believe the RINOS will never go for closed primaries. This is one reason, I refuse to call myself a Republican or give to the RNC.
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