The only thing worse than the current presidential nomination system would be a change like this one being led by California.

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) signed legislation yesterday moving the state's presidential primary to Feb. 5, 2008, a change that could lead to the earliest and biggest single-day test of candidate strength ever.

Half a dozen other large states, including New York, Texas, Florida, Illinois and New Jersey, are also considering moving their primaries to the first Tuesday in February, with the possibility that nearly two dozen contests will be held that day. Together, those states could account for more than half of the total number of delegates at stake.

In theory, this could mean that the nominations of both parties are determined six-months before the national conventions -- and that a huge percentage of Americans -- in a majority of states, will have virtually no voice in selecting the nominees.

Some years ago, someone suggested a national primary system in which primary dates rotated every cycle between four groups of states, with the election dates set a month apart. That way, only about a quarter of delegates ould be at stake at any given time. Such a process would require nationalizing th primary elections, which I find objectionable -- but would that be worse than this?

I will say this, though -- the potential fallout from this change could prove the wisdom of the Electoral College, which at least makes small states relevant in electing a President.

Posted by: Greg at 02:48 AM | Comments (7) | Add Comment
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