What many people seem not to understand is that until the late 19th and early 20th century the major parties’ nominees were not elected by any form popular vote, neither by a primary election, or by binding delegates via a preference poll. The United States Constitution has never specified the process for selecting the party’s nominees and the political parties have developed their own procedures over time, under their state’s organization, hence the reason that states hold only primary elections, some hold only caucuses, and others use a combination of both including as CO has for many years a combination of a non-binding preference poll but with the caucuses actually voting for the delegates. This is also why some states are “winner take all” and other are proportional in awarding delegates.
It was the “progressives” of the time that wanted to make the process more “democratic”. This was also the time frame in which the 17th Amendment was passed – the Constitution as originally written stated that senators would be elected by state legislatures and not by the direct election via a popular vote. And the POTUS is not and was never intended by the framers, especially the Federalists to be elected by plurality of the popular vote – see Electoral College.
Donald J. Trump - "We're supposed to be a Democracy!"
No Don. We are not supposed to be a Democracy. We are a Republic.
“A Mrs. Powel of Philadelphia asked Benjamin Franklin, “Well, Doctor, what have we got, a republic or a monarchy?” With no hesitation whatsoever, Franklin responded, “A Republic, if you can keep it.””
“Democracy is the most vile form of government... democracies have ever been spectacles of turbulence and contention: have ever been found incompatible with personal security or the rights of property: and have in general been as short in their lives as they have been violent in their deaths. – James Madison”
“A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the majority discovers it can vote itself largess out of the public treasury. After that, the majority always votes for the candidate promising the most benefits with the result the democracy collapses because of the loose fiscal policy ensuing, always to be followed by a dictatorship, then a monarchy.” - Often mistakenly attributed to Alexis de Tocqueville but a great quote and insight none the less.
The caucus system was adopted by Colorado voters in 1912 as part of a package of progressive reforms. It was seen as a way to limit the power of party bosses and to attract more grassroots involvement. The caucus system was abolished in favor of presidential primaries in 1992, but restored in 2002 with the defeat of Amendment 29 and cost considerations, the fully restored Colorado Caucus was in 2004. So in other words, the citizens of CO voted by a margin of 60.14% for the system currently in place.
https://ballotpedia.org/Colorado_Candidate_Selection,_Initiative_29_(2002)
People don't care how nominees were selected in 1900.
Defenders of the Colorado GOP have been maneuvered into defending the party elite at the expense of the everyday citizen.
Even as we speak, a Colorado Cruz supporter is on Rush Limbaugh saying that Colorado has it right because voters are too stupid to make a rational choice.
The delegate math may not change (although I wouldn't be surprised if it did), but Trump is winning this argument.
The narrative is being set. Cruz is on the side of the elite. Trump is the champion of the people.
And used to be if you wanted to watch a show on TV, you had a limited selection of alphabet networks for options, and had to watch what they showed, when they put it on the air. Now, not so much. The model’s broken.