why are they all staggered?
why not all on the same day?
who invented all these rules?
I am not sure why each state elects to hold their caucuses on different dates. Super Tuesday has 24 states holding caucuses. These states elected to hold their caucus on March 1, 2016 because they have determined that increases their state’s importance. I think this is a strategy by the states to have the candidates come to their state and stump for the electorate. That generates more money for the respective parties.
States used to be sovereign, and not really anybody else’s business, as long as they hold to a “republican form of government”.
The rules have evolved over many years.
The first several states are relatively small and geographically scattered. They are supposed to help winnow the field (eliminate those who have no chance). The later ones include the big winner-take-all states. By then, we’ll be looking at only a few candidates, maybe just three.
This year, we started out with so many credible candidates, the networks adopted the idea of two debates, one in the afternoon or early evening and the other in prime time.