Nonsense. Start the primaries in Texas and Kansas instead of Iowa and New Hampshire. Then relegate anyone who isn't one of the 'top three' into a 'lower tier' before going on to any other state. I dare say the outcome would be drastically different.
It isn't that the Conservative candidates were inarticulate. It is simply a matter of attrition. by the time conservative states have a choice, there is no Conservative left to vote for. Such was the case this time.
“Nonsense. Start the primaries in Texas and Kansas instead of Iowa and New Hampshire.”
I doubt it would make a difference. There were plenty of conservatives in the race. In fact, too many. Each with his own niche of support splitting the conservative vote allowing the moderate to win.
We, here on FR, seem to think that a candidate only has to appeal to ourselves. In order to win the primaries and, more importantly, to win the general election, a winning candidate must be able to articulate the benefits of conservatism in a manner that appeals to the broad middle. This is not saying that he has to pander to the middle, but that he must be able to attract support from the middle even if that means losing some conservative support. None of the conservatives were able to do that. So we all lost.
“Then relegate anyone who isn’t one of the ‘top three’ into a ‘lower tier’ before going on to any other state. I dare say the outcome would be drastically different.”
I remember the fire storm when it was announced that no one under 5% would be allowed to participate in some of the debates. While I agree that the field should have been narrowed very early, I don’t know how this can be done without antagonising much of the conservative base. How often did you read here, if ‘Candidate X’ isn’t allowed to participate in the debate, I’ll never vote republican again?
“It isn’t that the Conservative candidates were inarticulate. It is simply a matter of attrition. by the time conservative states have a choice, there is no Conservative left to vote for. Such was the case this time.”
Perhaps more importantly, the winner take all format of the primaries allowed the candidate with a plurality but not a majority to take all the delegates. While I don’t like the proportionate splitting of delegates used the the democrats such a primary system would helped the conservative candidates. Perhaps a compromise. If a candidate wins 50% of the vote, then it’s winner take all. Less and it’s proportional.