Posted on 01/03/2012 6:46:33 AM PST by SeekAndFind
One reason I've been eager and impatient for the Iowa caucuses is that I assumed at least a couple candidates would reconsider their presidential bids based on the results. But that looks to be increasingly improbable. Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich are too viable to be discouraged by early upsets, Rick Santorum is poised to exceed expectations, Ron Paul has never been deterred by his unlikelihood to secure the nomination, Rick Perry considers Iowa to be the equivalent of the first mile of a marathon and Jon Huntsman says New Hampshire picks presidents. That leaves Michele Bachmann, who has clung to her August Ames Straw Poll victory as evidence that she has support in the Hawkeye State that isn’t reflected in the current polls. If that turns out to not be true — and she finishes, say, last or something — will she drop out? No way, she says. The Daily Caller’s Alex Pappas reports:
During an appearance on MNSBC’s Morning Joe, Bachmann said her campaign has “already bought our plane tickets. We’re headed to South Carolina as soon as we’re done on Wednesday morning. We’ll be there. We’re going the distance.”
Bachmann won the Iowa Straw Poll in August, but suffered a fall hard as the campaign season went on. The most recent Des Moines Register poll shows her in last place, with 7 percent.
“This isn’t over,” she said. “We’re not here for a post mortem. We’re here because I intend to continue to launch our campaign out of Iowa. I think we’re going to do very well.”
It’s hard to say just why Bachmann fell; as a candidate, she didn’t change from August to now. My best guess: Whereas her attacks on Tim Pawlenty resonated in some way at the time, her attacks on anybody and everybody but Mitt Romney ever since then have apparently begun to pall. They leave voters with the impression that she stands against liberalism even more than she stands for conservatism. Her congressional record of “no” votes just underlines that impression. If Gingrich’s conservative credibility has been undermined somewhat by his superabundance of ideas and refusal to defend himself, then Bachmann’s has been undermined by her lack of them and by her negativity toward her fellow competitors. In this GOP primary, voters — like Goldilocks — are really, really looking for just right … and not quite finding it.
What I propose is a series of three "national" primaries occurring in say February, April and June. Now when I say national, I'm really talking about 50 separate state primaries (or caucuses if a state so chooses) held on the same day - three times.
I think this would add a lot of excitement to the process and get more people involved.
The first primary should be more of a weeding out process. Basically have it where you need a certain percentage of the vote (say 10%) to move on to the second primary. This primary shall have no delegates awarded.
The second primary (held around April) will award 50% of the available delegates on a proportional basis. This way, it will not be possible for a nominee to be selected but we will have a clear idea by now who the top tier of candidates are.
The third and final primary should be held in June. This primary would award the remaining 50% of the delegates on a proportional basis. If a candidate has amassed over 50% of the TOTAL delegates, he/she will go to the convention as the nominee. If no candidate has 50% of the total, then we will determine the nominee at the convention and candidates with smaller delegate totals will be in the position to release their delegates to the candidate they feel will best represent the party.
I believe this process will result in a much better quality nominee.
Let it be so!
I agree whole heartly. Iowa and New Hampshire have way to much influence and do not speak for the whole country. This whole process is so upside down. thanks for your thoughtful post. Denco
It seems that for some folks, the political process, and the adulation of average folks on the stump, seems to be some kind of addiction.
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