Can somebody tell me why the conventions are so late this year, when most of the primaries/caucuses have been moved up to January and February? I thought the goal was to get the party nominated behind one candidate ASAP.
That worked quite well in 2004, didn’t it? John Kerry had the nomination in the bag by February, giving us five months to pick apart his record before the convention. Now I’m hearing that the Democratic convention is scheduled for the end of August, and the Republican one will be held in early September! While that means John McCain has nearly six months where he doesn’t have to do anything but raise funds, on the Democratic side, it seems somebody designed the schedule just to entertain non-Democrats.
I guess Euripides was right when he said, “Whom the gods destroy they first make mad.” That has certainly happened with the Dims in recent years.
That worked quite well in 2004, didn't it? John Kerry had the nomination in the bag by February, giving us five months to pick apart his record before the convention. Now I'm hearing that the Democratic convention is scheduled for the end of August, and the Republican one will be held in early September! While that means John McCain has nearly six months where he doesn’t have to do anything but raise funds, on the Democratic side, it seems somebody designed the schedule just to entertain non-Democrats.I think you've touched upon it -- there are two remaining Dhimmicrat candidates who continue to fight it out, but the attacks on McCain have been going on for a while (and I'm not even talking about FR ;'), including Gloria Steinem's the other day. IMHO, the campaign season needs to be later, shorter, and more sensible, and should end just before the conventions. Two states should have a primary or caucus scheduled for each week, on Tuesday, with the order determined the same way order was determined for the state quarters -- by the order of admission to the Union. The whole primary season would be wrapped up in 26 weeks, there would be no "super Tuesday" per se, and then people could complain that too much emphasis is placed on this or that other new feature. To rip off Will Rogers, it wouldn't stop the war, but it would be different.
[from the US mint's quarters schedule page]
Release Date State Statehood Date Mintage Numbers* 1999 4,430,940,000 January 04, 1999 Delaware December 07, 1787 774,824,000 March 08, 1999 Pennsylvania December 12, 1787 707,332,000 May 17, 1999 New Jersey December 18, 1787 662,228,000 July 19, 1999 Georgia January 02, 1788 939,932,000 October 12, 1999 Connecticut January 09, 1788 1,346,624,000 2000 6,470,932,000 January 03, 2000 Massachusetts February 06, 1788 1,163,784,000 March 13, 2000 Maryland April 28, 1788 1,234,732,000 May 22, 2000 South Carolina May 23, 1788 1,308,784,000 August 07, 2000 New Hampshire June 21, 1788 1,169,016,000 October 16, 2000 Virginia June 25, 1788 1,594,616,000 2001 4,806,984,000 January 02, 2001 New York July 26, 1788 1,275,040,000 March 12, 2001 North Carolina November 21, 1789 1,055,476,000 May 21, 2001 Rhode Island May 29, 1790 870,100,000 August 06, 2001 Vermont March 04, 1791 882,804,000 October 15, 2001 Kentucky June 01, 1792 723,564,000 2002 3,313,704,000 January 02, 2002 Tennessee June 01, 1796 648,068,000 March 11, 2002 Ohio March 01, 1803 632,032,000 May 20, 2002 Louisiana April 30, 1812 764,204,000 August 02, 2002 Indiana December 11, 1816 689,800,000 October 15, 2002 Mississippi December 10, 1817 579,600,000 2003 2,280,400,000 January 02, 2003 Illinois December 03, 1818 463,200,000 March 17, 2003 Alabama December 14, 1819 457,400,000 June 02, 2003 Maine March 15, 1820 448,800,000 August 04, 2003 Missouri August 10, 1821 453,200,000 October 20, 2003 Arkansas June 15, 1836 457,800,000 2004 2,401,600,000 January 26, 2004 Michigan January 26, 1837 459,600,000 March 29, 2004 Florida March 03, 1845 481,800,000 June 01, 2004 Texas December 29, 1845 541,800,000 August 30, 2004 Iowa December 28, 1846 465,200,000 October 25, 2004 Wisconsin May 29, 1848 453,200,000 2005 3,013,600,000 January 31, 2005 California September 09, 1850 520,400,000 April 04, 2005 Minnesota May 11, 1858 488,000,000 June 06, 2005 Oregon February 14, 1859 720,200,000 August 29, 2005 Kansas January 29, 1861 563,400,000 October 14, 2005 West Virginia June 20, 1863 721,600,000 2006 2,925,400,000 January 31, 2006 Nevada October 31, 1864 589,800,000 April 03, 2006 Nebraska March 01, 1867 591,000,000 June 14, 2006 Colorado August 01, 1876 569,000,000 August 28, 2006 North Dakota November 02, 1889 664,800,000 November 06, 2006 South Dakota November 02, 1889 510,800,000 2007 2,712,440,000 January 29, 2007 Montana November 08, 1889 513,240,000 April 02, 2007 Washington November 11, 1889 545,200,000 August 03, 2007 Idaho July 03, 1890 581,400,000 September 03, 2007 Wyoming July 10, 1890 564,400,000 November 05, 2007 Utah January 04, 1896 508,200,000 2008 January 28, 2008 Oklahoma November 16, 1907 TBA Current Quarter April 07, 2008 New Mexico January 06, 1912 TBA Arizona February 14, 1912 Alaska January 03, 1959 Hawaii August 21, 1959