A New Season For Primaries

primarysolution
Originally uploaded by Randuwa

Here we are on the day of the Michigan Primary elections and the Democratic Party has stripped the state of it's delegates (and Florida the same, who's election is in a little over a week). How Absurd! You can't disenfranchise such large and important states. And bravo to both of them for the courage to play chicken with the party and stick to their guns -- it's the only way to give both Iowa and New Hampshire a reality check and the larger national parties the bitch slap they deserve for maintaining a system as capricious as this one.

Others have forwarded a proposal in which the present system would be replaced by a rotating regional primary approach. This is certainly better than the unruly status quo. However, it also advantages candidates by virtue of their birth town, their chosen district/state of public service, even their venacular form of the English language. And so "fairness" suggests a better solution.

And this is my proposal. Structure primaries around the populations of states. The smaller states to the larger with multiple states occurring on any given Tuesday. This will build the competition over time. It will graciously acknowledge the voices of the lesser players, while still permitting candidates to strategize based on the numbers of electoral votes.

The actual calendar might look like this (however, as populations shift, so would the calendar -- a diecennial readjustment based on the census results.):

The third Tuesday in January of an election year primaries are held in: AK, DE, DC, MT, ND, SD, VT & WY
= Electoral College Votes 18

The first Tuesday in February of an election year primaries are held in: HI, ID, ME, RI & VT
= Electoral College Votes 20

The third Tuedsay in February of an election year primaries are held in: AR, KS, MS, NE, NV, NM, UT & WV
= Electoral College Votes 41

The first Tuesday in March of an election year primaries are held in: CT, IA, KY, OK, OR, & SC
= Electoral College Votes 44

The third Tuesday in March (The MARCH BREAK) Teritories hold primaries: Puearto Rico, Guam, etc.
= Electoral College Votes 0

The first Tuesday in April of an election year primaries are held in: AL, AZ, CO, LA, MD, MN & WI
= Electoral College Votes 67

The third Tuesday in April of an election year primaries are held in: IN, MA, MO, TN & WA
= Electoral College Votes 56

The first Tuesday in May of an election year primaries are held in: GA, NJ, NC & VA
= Electoral College Votes 58

The second Tuesday in May of an election year primaries are held in: IL, MI, OH & PA
= Electoral College Votes 79

The Third Tuesday in May of an election year primary are held in FL & NY
= Electoral College Votes 58

The Fourth Tuesday in May of an election year Primary is held in TX & CA
= Electoral College Votes 89

What do you think?