The Problem with Presidential Primaries

Primary elections are elections held previous to a Presidential election to decide upon the presidential candidate from the two main parties. These are held in each state, each of which then goes on to sponsor the winning candidate of their primary at the national convention, where the party’s presidential candidate is announced. This method of choosing a candidate came about due to the McGovem/Fraser Commission of 1968 (where Mayor Daley refused McGovem the chance to run as he was too liberal). It replaced the old system of decisions being made in ‘smoke filled rooms’ where party bosses were all powerful and made the decision.

The McGovern-Fraser Commission changed the presidential primary system by writing new rules to make the Democratic Party conventions more open to input from the public as well as representative. By doing so, the public and party leaders could no longer “handpick” the convention delegates virtually in secret and the delegate selection process was required to be open for anyone to participate.

Yet it is a swing state. The record shows despite the victory of President Obama in the state of North Carolina, the state is dominantly Republican since 1960s. Based on the facts, there are slightly more Democratic voters in North Carolina (2.8 million) than Republican voters (2.0 million). 54% of the voters consist of women. These facts favor Hillary Clinton but still both parties would campaign heavily for those 15 electoral votes. According to the early vote in North Carolina, 40 percent of the electorate already cast the ballot and the amount portrays a significant lead towards the former Secretary of State. Overall, Mrs. Clinton led the early votes by 51 to 39 percent in three way race and 53-39 percent in two-way race. Researchers found out the amount of Democratic voters in North Carolina declined in 2016 compared to the amount four years ago. On the other hand, the amount of Republican voters increased this year compared to the amount in 2012. The number of registered Democratic voters declined by 5.1 percent and the number of early voters have dipped by 3.1 percent. This shows the number of Democratic turnout hasn’t dropped as much as the number of registered Democrats. Another side of the early votes show the early votes of Black voters dropped from 28 percent in 2008 to 23 percent in 2016. This shows the lack of enthusiasm from the North Carolina black voters. It

The 2016 primary elections have been a mess for both parties but it has insulted millions because their state didn’t allow independents to vote. Bernie Sanders, an independent form the state of Vermont is hoping to win the democratic nomination but has faced massive setbacks because of these closed primaries. Bernie Sanders has overwhelming support from independent voters all around the country, resulting in landslide victories. He crushed his establishment rival Hillary Clinton in Indiana with the help of independents. “Indiana was just the latest example of Sanders’ crossover appeal. He also won big in New Hampshire, Wisconsin and Michigan, where independents are free to participate” (Huffingtonpost). If every state had an open primary system, then Sanders could have been the front runner of his party. In reality the Sanders campaign is struggling to win each state without independents. Sanders argued for having more open contest by stating, “Three million people in the state of New York who are independents have lost their right to vote for the Democratic or Republican primary... That’s wrong.” Of course he’s right because those people could have made a massive change in this election. The most unsettling news out of this is the fact that independent voters could not change party after September. We like to think we have

George Wallace’s 1968 candidacy, when he won 46 electoral college votes from 5 southern states, could have deadlocked the Electoral College

In 2003 the Democrats still figured out how to hold a 17-15 point of interest inside the state's U.S. House delegation, a bonus to the new electoral map was intended to undo. The Republicans' manage to hang on to the administration and the Democrats' determination to recapture lost ground uncover however far the state has come since the times of the democratic form of government. In 2004, both parties admonished the committee to get out the vote through time-regarded grassroots organizing on the local and precinct levels, while at the same time using new innovations and methods to expand partisan mobilization. As a quick come about, in numerous parts of the state, turnout sailed above historic averages.

This paper will talk about the presidential primaries in the United States of America. It will explain what a primary election is, and where it comes from historically, also how it fits into today’s society. Another topic it will cover is how the primary process has played out so far this year, how some of the contenders are currently faring in the race for presidency. It will also cover the strong suits of the primaries and some of the major flaws of the primaries. The last topic this paper will cover is whether or not the people of the United States should understand and care about the presidential Primaries.

Many Americans believed that the election of 1860 would decide the fate of the Union. The Democratic Party was the only party in the national scope. The convention in Charleston, South Carolina in 1860 split the Democratic Party. Stephen Douglas wanted his party’s presidential nomination, but he could not afford to alienate northern voters by accepting the southern position on the territories. However, "Southern Democrats insisted on recognition of their rights, as the Dred Scott decision had defined them and they moved to block Douglas’s nomination"( Bialy, 2007, p. 383). Douglas obtained a majority for his version of the platform, delegates from the South walked out of the convention. After compromise efforts the Democrats presented two

Patrick Murphy, Democrat, is a congressman challenging Marco Rubio’s Florida Senate seat. Marco Rubio is advantaged, both by incumbency and his presidential campaign. As an incumbent, Rubio should have an advantage over Murphy for numerous reasons. John Sides et al. succinctly explains how incumbents have more campaign and political experience,

Iowa party chairman Andy McGuire was quoted saying "The results tonight are the closest in Iowa Democratic caucus history". On the Republican side Texas Senator Ted Cruz beat out who many considered the overwhelming favorite Donald Trump with 27.6 percent of the votes to Trumps 24.3 percent. Even more surprising to many on the Republican side Florida Senator Marco Rubio only finished 1.2 percent behind Donald Trump at 23.1 percent. As if the race wasn’t already highly anticipated, Iowa’s caucuses jumped started it to another level!

Although he does not serve as a lawyer, McCain has had a positive impact on America, serving as a military leader and representative of the U.S. government. He is recognized as a hero for his honorable morality in his military performance. He, like Hamilton also has had a substantial contribution in America’s government and after serving in the military, delegated his work in politics. He is recognized as a bold conservative, and, like Hamilton, is not afraid to express his opinion towards his political party. McCain has succeeded numerous times and in the most recent election on November 8, 2016, he was re-elected for his sixth term in the U.S. Senate. Just as Hamilton put effort into influencing his political party- the federalist party- in his support for Thomas Jefferson and his efforts to making him the next President, McCain played a role in supporting his party - the Republican Party- by showing his support for Mitt Romney in the 2012 election, and later went on to supporting Trump, but eventually receded from his support after the Washington post was released. Both men’s endorsement towards their specific leader, however, were surprisingly not based off the leaders themselves, but the party they represented. As mentioned before, Hamilton greatly disliked Jefferson, but still supported him, in efforts to do what he believed was the best for the country’s political future. McCain stated, “I am a Republican. I'm loyal to the party of Abraham Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt. And I believe that my party, in some ways, has strayed from those principles, particularly on the issue of fiscal discipline.” (Mccain, 2016) Both men have done remarkable jobs in representing America for what it stands

However, I would like to extend his observations to primary campaigns using my own analysis. Recently, John Kasich came in second in the New Hampshire. Despite not winning John Kasich outperformed other establishment candidates like Chris Christie, Marco Rubio, and Jeb Bush. However, Kasich seemingly focused solely on New Hampshire conducting over 100 town halls in the state. Further, Kasich has attempted to present himself nationally as the most moderate of the Republicans. In my opinion, Kasich has done this strategically to win votes in the more moderate New Hampshire. The question remains though can Kasich carry this strategy farther. In my opinion, Kasich has to focus on Nevada and hope for a decent result. Further, Kasich has to strategically travel to the “Rust Belt” and the northeast to remain competitive. Thus, if Kasich’s strategic design of being more moderate to appeal he will have to continue to travel strategically in state’s that are more moderate.

A presidential primary is an election where members of the electorate can vote for a candidate for the Republican or Democrat presidential nomination. In an open primary any registered voter can vote, these are favoured more by the democratic party, whilst the republican party usually runs a closed primary, where only registered republicans can vote. Each Candidate wins delegates (how many depends on the system, whether it is proportional or winner takes all) that nominate them at the National Convention at the end of the primary election cycle. The candidates with the most delegates by super (dooper) Tuesday were Senators John McCain and Barack Obama making them their respective party's nominees. Primaries were introduced nationally to elect

As far as the actual turn out at the primaries vs. how a candidate will do during an election have no connection. Although the republican turnout went up and the democratic turnout went down it just proves that there is more completion during the primaries (Enten). By looking at a graph that shows the comparison of popular vote (an act of voting by the electorate of country or area) and Electoral College (body of people who represent the U.S. and cast votes on the president and vice president) here really isn’t a

The introduction to electoral primaries widened my perspective of the presidential elections. I learned the different kinds primary procedures utilized across the country. To promote voter participation, an open primary is used. Caucus methods being one version of electoral primary, however, is among the least used in the US.