Primary Concerns

With the primary season heating up quicker than we’ve ever seen it before, and in unison with our class discussion on primaries, I felt now would be a good time to take a closer look at primaries and weigh in on the debate on whether they are good or bad in relation to the numerous groups primaries effect.

The first group thing we will look at is whether primaries are good for democracy or not. All in all primaries are good for democracy. While they may be complicated and confusing, they still serve a relevant purpose in our countries democratic system. Why? Because by having the system set up the way we do, with caucuses, closed primaries, open primaries, and conventions, it spreads everything out very nicely, therefore making it harder for one candidate or party to gain too much momentum in primary season. While yes that does still happen, it helps limit it. It allows the people to play a bigger part, instead of just letting the party leaders choose the candidate they like the most.

Speaking of the people, that brings me to my next point. Are primaries good for voters? Again, the answer to this question is yes. Why? Because as I stated earlier it allows the people to play a part in who the candidate is, instead of only the party leaders. While just like in the general election the people are not actually choosing the candidate, but in the primary they are voting for delegate’s to represent their state and vote for the candidate the state voted for. While not the ideal way for the people to participate, it does get them involved instead of having the old school, party leader, smokey back room, caucus.

The next group that the primary effects is the parties themselves. Are primaries good for parties? My answer to this question is no. Parties do not benefit from primaries and I’m sure they would like it better if there were no primaries. Why? Because primaries take control from the hands of the party leaders. Instead of them choosing the candidate that they feel best represents the platform they want to run on, the public and the states get to make a majority of the decision. Although, much of the time the candidate that was the front runner ends up winning the nomination anyway, I’m sure the parties would like to have to more control than they do in the primary system.

And the last group that I will review is the candidates themselves. Are primaries good for the candidates? The answer to that question is yes and no. For some candidates, especially the lesser known candidates, they can be a good thing because primaries allow them to travel to each state months before the primary and start to build yourself and make a name for themselves. But for other candidates they can be a bad thing. In the past few elections the primaries are getting closer and closer together making it hard for the candidates to spend equal time in each primary state, when seven states all have their primary on the same day. Sometimes this front loading of the primaries can kill momentum for the candidates.

So primaries, good or bad? Everyone has their opinion on it. Mine? I am in favor of them. Overall I feel they help the democratic process. And one other note before I end this, if anyone is interested in watching an interesting take on what goes on behind the scenes of a party convention, I highly recommend tracking down the episode of The West Wing television show called “2162 Votes”. This was the final episode of the shows sixth season. While it may be a bit unrealistic considering how today’s conventions go, it does feature and interesting look at how a convention might go if a party went to the convention with no clear nominee, and had to go to multiple ballots to figure it out. It may be a bit far fetched at the end, but still an enjoyable hour of television. Anyway, that’s all for now.