Are the U.S. primaries, ‘just vulgar mud fights with rules so complicated that they could have been invented by the NFL?’ Such is the verdict of the editorial board of The Netherlands’ leading business daily, the NRC Handelsblad …
EDITORIAL
Translated By Jan de Nijs
January 9, 2007
The Netherlands – NRC Handlesblad – Original Article (Dutch)
For most American primary voters, it’s advantageous that none of the candidates in either party have yet to wrap up their respective nominations. For both Democrats as well as Republicans, the results from the New Hampshire primary differed from the Iowa caucuses. The result is that these tiny states will not play a decisive role for the rest of the country and the majority of the electorate will now have an opportunity to choose.
But the momentum has reversed. The winners of Iowa, Democrat Barrack Obama and Republican Mike Huckabee, only got as far in New Hampshire as second and third place, respectively. With Republicans handing John McCain victory in New Hampshire, that race remains completely open. After Hillary’s devastating loss in Iowa, victory in New Hampshire put her back on top. But even though the New Hampshire primary is more important than the unpredictable caucuses in Iowa, Obama is certainly not out.That leaves several candidates on both sides with enough prospects to ensure them adequate campaign financing. Because the U.S. primaries are just vulgar mud fights with rules so complicated that they could have been invented by the NFL. They are all about campaign financiers, advertisers, and media of all stripes, advisers, volunteers, and lobbyist who try to push candidates or squash them. The candidates in turn seek to create favorable images of themselves. For example, Clinton for a time succeeded in steering voters away from Obama by portraying herself as the inevitable candidate.
This system has significant flaws. It’s quite unfair that because of the primary schedule, small groups of early voters can have a major influence on the election of candidates. The old oligarchy of the two parties has been replaced with an oligarchy of early voting states.
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