Democratic Primaries

[I find the following article very interesting and an important decision for the Democratic party.

When you think about it, Iowa and New Hampshire are two very "American" states but are certainly not at all representative of the majority of Americans. Thus for them to be the ones to select who is to run for the presidency for any party is actually rather silly!

Mention has been made of South Carolina which to my mind is a state which if attainable by a Democrat would be earth shaking - so indeed, it would be a great hurdle for a primary - or so it would seem. However, on second thought, wouldn't the Democrats of South Carolina be those who are so polarized against the ruling class of bigots and wannabe plantation owners that they would not be a good measure of how the average American feels about just about anything?

Mention has also been made about involvement of the west which has always been left out of the equation - even California. None of the ‘left hand side of the country has had a choice about who to vote for - that has always been decided by the "Eastern establishment" like Iowa and New Hampshire.

In the case of California, only the coast of the state is progressive. The central valley and the Sierra mountains have always been very conservative. In fact, as we genealogists know, the migration of people to California, except for the gold rush in 1849, were from Virginia, down through Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and into the promised land!

Californis has had it share of Democratic and Republican governors and office holders - it is not by far as Democratic as New York, for example. Its present governor is often not claimed by either party! It might be a good candidate.

I lived with those people in the Sierra after I retired for almost ten years. When I was driven out by old age and snow to northern Arizona I really didn't experience the culture shock I certainly would have gotten had I retired directly from the San Francisco Bay Area - aside from the fact that no one in the Sierra walks around with a six gun strapped on his hip - but...

But Arizona is interesting and could, perhaps should be a testing site for the Democratic primaries. The state is rabidly Republican if you consider its state government and its junior senator (Kyle). On the other hand, its other Republican senator, McCain, is much more centrist, although a bit unpredictable - many Democrats like him but some of us don't like his bed-fellows.

But, despite the overwhelming Republican vote, we have a Democrat Governess and a Democrat Attorney General (everyone else in the government is Republican)! The government in Phoenix is in a constant state of war, but Governor Janet vetoes half of the mean-spirited crap the Republicans pass on ‘party-line' votes and appears to be loved by the people for doing so! She is running for re-election in November and I would be in a state of shock if she is not rel-elected - she's one smart babe, usually right - and they know it!

She just vetoed two more bills passed by them today! (I've suspected that they really don't want their bills passed and rely on her to veto them - that way they look good to their miserable constituents and she looks good to the country.) She is regarded as one of the best governors in the nation.

At any rate, I think that there should be other more representative proving grounds for candidates than two rather backward and unrepresentative states.

Personally, I'd opt for national voting via the Internet after watching the candidate's best shot in a series of nationally televised debates - and forget the primaries altogether! Yeah, I know, not in my lifetime!... AG]

US states look to move up in 2008 White House race
By John Whitesides, Political Correspondent Thu Apr 20

NEW ORLEANS (Reuters) - Ten states asked the Democratic National Committee on Thursday to let them hold early presidential nominating contests in 2008, promising to bring more racial and geographic diversity to the process of choosing a candidate.

They made their case to a DNC panel that will choose at least two states to join the traditional presidential kingmakers, Iowa and New Hampshire, in holding early nominating contests in the next White House race.

The panel, responding to complaints that the white, rural residents of Iowa and New Hampshire were not representative of the country's diversity, approved a plan last month to add new state contests early in the calendar.

All of the states stressed their racial, ethnic and economic diversity and said they would offer Democratic presidential candidates an opportunity to craft and test-drive a message that would help them appeal to the entire country.

They all said they would be well suited for the face-to-face, grass-roots politics that distinguish campaigns in Iowa and New Hampshire.

"South Carolina is a perfect laboratory for Democratic politics," Rep. James Clyburn of South Carolina told the panel. "If you prove your mettle in South Carolina, you will be successful in the United States of America."

Under the plan, Democrats would add one or two caucuses between the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary, and one or two primaries right after New Hampshire but before the nominating calendar is thrown open to all states.

The proposal, which has drawn opposition in Iowa and New Hampshire, was designed to let those two states retain much of their prominence in the nominating process while giving a bigger voice to states in the South and West -- areas where Democrats have suffered in recent presidential races.

SOUTH, WEST WANT IN
"We cannot win the White House without winning electoral votes in the deep South," said Alabama Democratic Party Chairman Joe Turnham.

He said any presidential candidate who can win in Alabama will be "battle-hardened and ready to go to the heartland of America and ask for those electoral votes in November."

Also making presentations to the panel were Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Michigan, Mississippi, Nevada, West Virginia and Hawaii, along with the District of Columbia.

"Arizona really represents in many ways the future of the Democratic Party," said Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano, who spoke to the panel by telephone and highlighted the state's growing Hispanic population. "The West is someplace where the national Democratic Party can make serious inroads," she said.

The panel plans at least one more meeting this summer before announcing its decision on specific states and timing later this year.

The presentations came on the opening day of the DNC's spring meeting, which was being held in New Orleans in part to highlight the Bush administration's slow response to Hurricane Katrina. DNC members have a busy schedule of community work, including house building and clean-up, while in New Orleans.

Iowa and New Hampshire have long enjoyed enormous influence in the race for presidential nominations. Iowa has held the first caucuses of the campaign since 1972, and New Hampshire traditionally holds the first primary shortly afterward.

Critics say their influence in presidential politics is distorted given their small populations, while supporters argue they serve the process well by forcing candidates to engage in one-on-one campaigning.

New Hampshire has promised to fight any change, and state officials say they will move up the state's primary if necessary to make it comply with a state law requiring it be held a week before any other primaries. [I can see that ultimately the decision for president will be held on New Year's Day!... AG]