Comments on: Big Mo and the Order in Which Primaries, Caucuses Fall http://themoderatevoice.com/18857/big-mo-and-the-order-in-which-primaries-caucuses-fall/ An Internet hub for moderates, centrists, and independents, with domestic and international news, analysis, original reporting, and popular features from the left, center, and right Mon, 23 Nov 2009 19:49:55 -0500 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: Parableman http://themoderatevoice.com/18857/big-mo-and-the-order-in-which-primaries-caucuses-fall/comment-page-1/#comment-151191 Parableman Fri, 11 Apr 2008 02:56:19 +0000 http://themoderatevoice.com/at-tmv/newsweek-blogitics/18857/big-mo-and-the-order-in-which-primaries-caucuses-fall/#comment-151191 <i>That's it. Throw out voting altogether! Primaries are meaningless when campaigns are supposed to win them.</i><br><br>Pyronite, you seem to be working from a completely different understanding of Sean's argument from what I thought he was saying. I saw nothing about ignoring voting. What I saw was an observation that he'd been doing very well in the polls in those states all along, so it was no surprise that he did well in those states. If the voting had occurred at a different time, the votes would have gone the same way in those states. On the other hand, the polls in other states would have favored Hillary had they happened at other times. Thus the order of the primaries significantly affected who won in those states. Where in there is any suggestion that we stop having people vote in primaries? That's neither an assumption of the argument nor its conclusion. You're just making it up and pretending he thinks something remotely like that. That's it. Throw out voting altogether! Primaries are meaningless when campaigns are supposed to win them.

Pyronite, you seem to be working from a completely different understanding of Sean's argument from what I thought he was saying. I saw nothing about ignoring voting. What I saw was an observation that he'd been doing very well in the polls in those states all along, so it was no surprise that he did well in those states. If the voting had occurred at a different time, the votes would have gone the same way in those states. On the other hand, the polls in other states would have favored Hillary had they happened at other times. Thus the order of the primaries significantly affected who won in those states. Where in there is any suggestion that we stop having people vote in primaries? That's neither an assumption of the argument nor its conclusion. You're just making it up and pretending he thinks something remotely like that.

]]> By: pacatrue http://themoderatevoice.com/18857/big-mo-and-the-order-in-which-primaries-caucuses-fall/comment-page-1/#comment-151190 pacatrue Wed, 09 Apr 2008 23:56:32 +0000 http://themoderatevoice.com/at-tmv/newsweek-blogitics/18857/big-mo-and-the-order-in-which-primaries-caucuses-fall/#comment-151190 Points in the article are well taken. At the same time, putting every primary on one day has its drawback as well. Essentially it favors the famous name and the extremely well-heeled. A national election requires millions upon millions being spent all across the country at once, which rules out people spending far less on just the first 5 states or so to gain name recognition. So drawbacks either way.<br><br>The best solution I've had so far is to rotate the primaries. Create about 10 regions with 5 states each, and you can cyle through them every 5 elections or so for who leads. It's not ideal either, but it's maybe a bit better. I'd also be open to moving to all primaries. Points in the article are well taken. At the same time, putting every primary on one day has its drawback as well. Essentially it favors the famous name and the extremely well-heeled. A national election requires millions upon millions being spent all across the country at once, which rules out people spending far less on just the first 5 states or so to gain name recognition. So drawbacks either way.

The best solution I've had so far is to rotate the primaries. Create about 10 regions with 5 states each, and you can cyle through them every 5 elections or so for who leads. It's not ideal either, but it's maybe a bit better. I'd also be open to moving to all primaries.

]]> By: Slamfu http://themoderatevoice.com/18857/big-mo-and-the-order-in-which-primaries-caucuses-fall/comment-page-1/#comment-151189 Slamfu Wed, 09 Apr 2008 21:39:37 +0000 http://themoderatevoice.com/at-tmv/newsweek-blogitics/18857/big-mo-and-the-order-in-which-primaries-caucuses-fall/#comment-151189 I think most reasonable people at this point see the primaries process for the fiasco it is. Lets say we'd like them to do something different like have them all on the same day, who do I talk to about that. I'll file complaints all day long. We need to be spreading information on how to get the politicians to listen to us, who to talk to, who to get with, to make some changes and then start doing something with that info. Otherwise this is just a big circlejerk. I think most reasonable people at this point see the primaries process for the fiasco it is. Lets say we'd like them to do something different like have them all on the same day, who do I talk to about that. I'll file complaints all day long. We need to be spreading information on how to get the politicians to listen to us, who to talk to, who to get with, to make some changes and then start doing something with that info. Otherwise this is just a big circlejerk.

]]> By: Pyronite http://themoderatevoice.com/18857/big-mo-and-the-order-in-which-primaries-caucuses-fall/comment-page-1/#comment-151188 Pyronite Wed, 09 Apr 2008 16:47:08 +0000 http://themoderatevoice.com/at-tmv/newsweek-blogitics/18857/big-mo-and-the-order-in-which-primaries-caucuses-fall/#comment-151188 I love Sean's argument.<br><br>"But Maryland, DC, Virginia, Wisconsin, Louisiana, Hawai’i, Maine, Washington and Nebraska were all races that he was supposed to win — and by large margins at that."<br><br>That's it. Throw out voting altogether! Primaries are meaningless when campaigns are supposed to win them. I love Sean's argument.

“But Maryland, DC, Virginia, Wisconsin, Louisiana, Hawai’i, Maine, Washington and Nebraska were all races that he was supposed to win — and by large margins at that.”

That's it. Throw out voting altogether! Primaries are meaningless when campaigns are supposed to win them.

]]> By: Amanda http://themoderatevoice.com/18857/big-mo-and-the-order-in-which-primaries-caucuses-fall/comment-page-1/#comment-151187 Amanda Wed, 09 Apr 2008 13:52:00 +0000 http://themoderatevoice.com/at-tmv/newsweek-blogitics/18857/big-mo-and-the-order-in-which-primaries-caucuses-fall/#comment-151187 Maybe a variation on a national caucus would be a better method. Have all the states participate within a given month (say May of the election year) and only candidates who pick up at least 25-30% of the vote overall can move on to a national Primary in July that determines the nominee for each party. Scrap delegates and apportionment - just count the votes. Maybe a variation on a national caucus would be a better method. Have all the states participate within a given month (say May of the election year) and only candidates who pick up at least 25-30% of the vote overall can move on to a national Primary in July that determines the nominee for each party. Scrap delegates and apportionment – just count the votes.

]]> By: superdestroyer http://themoderatevoice.com/18857/big-mo-and-the-order-in-which-primaries-caucuses-fall/comment-page-1/#comment-151186 superdestroyer Wed, 09 Apr 2008 13:04:28 +0000 http://themoderatevoice.com/at-tmv/newsweek-blogitics/18857/big-mo-and-the-order-in-which-primaries-caucuses-fall/#comment-151186 Image what is going to happen after the Republican party completes its collapse and the Democratic primary is the real presidential election. A few states will be determining who the president is and the order of the primaries will determine the winner. Image what is going to happen after the Republican party completes its collapse and the Democratic primary is the real presidential election. A few states will be determining who the president is and the order of the primaries will determine the winner.

]]>