Seems you are reading a good bit more into Mr. Lilik's post than he intended. If you read it again, I think you'll see that Chris was proposing a system of REAL primaries where there are MULTIPLE candidates from which to choose, and MULTIPLE ideas are represented and debated. All too often, the candidate is not chosen in a general primary, but indeed is chosen by, and a front for, the "Kingmakers." I see no suggestion of a change in the system, just a suggestion that we should use the system as originally intended, not as it is currently used, abused, and manipulated.
Bush could not stop McCain from running in 2000. Spector could not stopp Toomey from running. There are no king makers.
How stupid does one have to be to believe that the Republican Party structure wanted Barry Goldwater to win the nomination in 1964. Nearly everyone except Goldwater knew he dwas going down to a massive defeat.
Those principled Republicans who nominated him thought he was going to win. The most telling thing for me was an interview I had with LBJ after he left office. I asked him to what he attributed his success in getting the "Great Society" passed. He replied, "Without having Barry Goldwater to run against in 1964, there is no way the Great Society could have been passed. Only when the Republicans put up a right winger like Goldwater, could Democrats elect enough senators to allow passage.
There is only one barrior to getting a nomination and then the office. That is enough voters to vote for a candidate.
Almost the entire Republican power structure supported Robert Taft for the Republican nominee in 1952. The Republican voters however wanted Ike. Ike won the nomination.
People who cry that the "Party Power Structure" keeps them from winning, are really saying they do not have enough voter support to win.
Politics is so simple. Convince a majority of the voters to your point of view and only those that support your position will win the nominations and the elections. Fail to get enough support to win and they are reduced to crying about how the system is stacked against them.