Posted on 01/24/2008 9:47:43 PM PST by Graybeard58
I have no idea why they're not done this way, since we can certainly manage to hold a presidential election on the same day across the country.
Disenfranchised Conservative Voter. A DCV—pretty much sums it up.
For God’s sake, will you Republicans LISTEN????????
Good article! Exactly my sentiments! I cannot, for the life of me, figure out who to vote for in FL primary! I’d tend to go with Ann’s choice, but I don’t agree with her on her choice and I cannot understand what she didn’t like with Fred or Duncan. I was shocked when she picked Romney!
The reason they are not standardized is that the federal government does not have control over the primary elections - and the states have no incentive to standardize them. They benefit from the exaggerated and brief attention generated by the primary frenzy within their borders. The increase in room tax revenues alone in New Hampshire is probably a huge boost to a place that would disappear from everyone’s attention span if we went to a national primary.
In this election cycle, the process was taken one step further. Poll results are generated by the MSM, and the MSM demonstrates a huge liberal bias and they obviously tilted the polls to show anticonservative results. Those polls were used to exclude the most conservative candidate from the debates in the EARLIEST PRIMARIES. So, we had biased media conducting biased polls and using that biased data to exclude the candidate they didn’t like, even though he had won a delegate and some of those jerks who had higher poll results hadn’t a single delegate to their name.
On Poll Results and the End of Conservatism
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1951282/posts
Good Grief! This author has put to words exactly the discussions in this house. Every word is identical. Every thought is identical.
WOW!
Good article by the way.
I understand, I mean "why" in the larger sense. The answer of course is that the earlier states like the money that flows into them--thus, the states that care more about getting a few more bucks for themselves are in the position of choosing the nominee for ALL of us. Wow, how's that for patriotism?
btt
My primary isn’t until May 20th. By then, the real process will be over. I’m being disenfranchised.
Forget the message, there is no conservative gonna get elected in November. I'd love for a candidate to step forward and pull 25% of Republicans away from the party trappings and tell the elitists, adios amigos.
Primaries and caucuses are purely internal party affairs used to choose a candidate, which involved the States ONLY because the two major parties were successful in using the State general election machinery, money and polling place for FREE. This has allowed the State Legislatures to meddle in internal party matters.
The National Republican Party at the 2008 Convention could choose to CHANGE to way that the Republican Primaries are funded, when they are conducted and WHO can vote in said same primaries or caucases.
The States do not need to do anything, the Republican Party at the 2008 Convention needs to do something about 2012, in addition to selecting a 2008 Presidential and Vice-Presidential ticket.
dvwjr
Quit whining. You very well may get to decide this thing.
Somehow, it’s gotten to the point where candidates are expected to campaign for 2 years before the first primary or caucus day even occurs. Then everything’s over and decided 2 weeks later!
Plus, early open primaries screw us really good!
These are word for word the comments of the Keyes, Bauer and Forbes supporters in 2000.
You go to war with the Army you have. It was Bush in 2000 and that victory got us John Roberts, Samuel Alito, sharp tax cuts and a permanent military presence on the 2nd largest oil reserves in the world.
If Gore had been elected we would have NONE of that. None. Not a single item.
You go to war with the Army you have. Romney is going to be the Army this year.
Prepare for battle.
Now that could be interesting.
Alas, they've melded with the Democrats so far and for so long that they would now regard the departure of conservatives as that irritating burr known as ethics and conscious removed from their saddle. Free at last to romp with the donkeys in the fields of big government socialism and free to bite the constituents who fed them!
But how do we establish and sustain a Conservative Party in an environment where the ruling two have jiggered the rules to insure no third party has a chance? The "winner take all" delegate system is the largest hurdle to overcome.
First, Fred Thompson was the guy who shot Fred Thompson. I liked Fred's positions, but he made a bunch of miscalculations. There was a lot of support for him, but everyone else was running for a year before he laced up his shoes. He campaigned like he was disinterested in the whole process.
Duncan Hunter never got out of single digits. Heck, he barely got to single digits. I know the MSM wouldn't cover him, but if he was really electable, he would have figured out a way to make his name better known than the guy who played Squiggy on Laverne and Shirley.
Okay, here's the news flash: There are not enough conservatives to swing an election without forming a coalition with other people.
We've been running a circular firing squad since 1992. Pat Buchanan started it. Bush wasn't good enough for Buchanan, so he threw a tantrum and broke up the Republican party. Good for him. He blasted Bush and weakened him enough that Perot could finish him off. After doing his best to destroy the Republican party, he picked up his dolly and dishes and went to Perot's Reform party, helping to break it up.
Everybody CLAIMS they want Reagan to come back. Well, how about bringing back this part of Reagan's philosophy: "Thou shalt not speak ill of another Republican." Let's debate issues, stand for principles, and seek the best candidate we can. When that is done, let's put aside animosity and work to elect our candidate.
The RNC rakes in much more money when the Democrats are in office. When their liberal RINOs are in office, they get mostly Nada Pesos ™.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.