Posted on 10/14/2011 12:24:03 PM PDT by smokingfrog
Portsmouth, New Hampshire (CNN) - Candidates for the GOP presidential nomination are split on whether to boycott the Nevada caucus, with some contenders saying they will not compete in that state because the date of their caucus will push the New Hampshire primary up to this December.
Nevada's GOP contributed to disarray in the Republican primary calendar when it moved up the date of the state's caucus to January 14. The move could push New Hampshire's primary up into early- or mid-December, Secretary of State Bill Gardner said in a letter posted to his website Wednesday.
Former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman announced early Thursday he was boycotting the Nevada caucus unless it pushes back its voting date. Later in the day, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum announced they were both joining the boycott.
Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, Texas Gov. Rick Perry and Texas Rep. Ron Paul all said they would not boycott Nevada’s caucus.
(Excerpt) Read more at politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com ...
Well that one way to stay in the race past your sell by date. Boycott the early primarys and claim you did not really lose, you were just boycotting them!
I’m not sure what to think about these crazy primary/caucus dates being set.
- They definitely do shake things up and an quick surge may pull out an unexpected win, but more than likely they are doing this to get Romney to win.
- I hate that we always have the same 4 states first, so I do like that Florida is shaking things up a bit to hopefully get them to change the states that go first every 4 years. Bring some of that campaign money to other states and let other states have a say in who our Presidents will be.
States have every right to determine when their caucus/primary is. If a candidate is not interested, don’t go.
Perry is also pushing for early primaires. I think the calculation is if the small fry get canned quick, it gives the names a chance to seal the deal early.
I hate this whole system
Frankly I think we should go to regional primaries. Do 10 states on the 1st Friday of every month starting in Jan of an election year.
Time to stop letting the Blue/Purple states decide our candidate
Sadly Romney is going to win Nevada no matter what. I live here and the Republicans here tend to be very squishy with a large contingent of Libertarians as well. Look for RuPaul to finish second. Huntsman boycotting is a yawn. He’ll probably be gone before then. That Perry won’t boycott is a surprise. I am a Perry supporter with Cain as my second choice. I don’t see Perry or Cain beating Romney here. Wish it were otherwise....
OMG! Huntsman is going to boycott?! What in the world will we do?
Do them all on the same date and get it over with. That way, no one state can influence another and the candiated and voters know where things stand.
The Nevada Republican organization is a branch of the national Republican organization. The national organization agreed and voted on rules that disallow what the Nevada branch is doing.
If you want states to determine what goes on within a party organization then you get open primaries like we now have in California.
Be careful what you ask for. You might just get it.
I’ve never understood why primaries are on different dates. Why not on one day like the general? This would preclude the kind of manipulations we’ve been subject to in recent primary elections. Having a single primary date would give each state equal impact and importance. Just seems logical to me to standardize the process for the sake of fairness to all candidates and their supporters.
Easier to avoid a brokered convention if later voters can vote for fewer candidates as people drop out. Best idea I’ve seen is 5 groups of ten states, each group voting a month apart, and rotating the groups every 4 years. Let’s the campaign season run it’s course but doesn’t give any state priority.
It’s because the candidates usually can’t afford to campaign in all 50 states at once. They have to build up and build momentum, and attract money along the way. The do well in one of the early states they gain momo for the later states.
IT also helps the party in the same way. And helps the candidates do their backroom deals.
Perhaps soon, now we are in the internet age, they could condense them. Candidates can disseminate information rather easily these days - to those interested in hearing it, of course.
I like that idea. I don’t like that NH gets to go first every time. Why? Who gave them that power. Small state. Few electoral votes. Too much emphasis.
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