43 campaigning days left to the caucuses

I sit here on the evening before Thanksgiving, just over 2 weeks removed from the one year mark to the 2008 general election (next November 4th), and read (thanks to Michelle Malkin) that the Iowa caucuses will be held January 3rd and the first primary in New Hampshire January 8th. Yes, that is insane.

Most likely the nominees will be decided a full 6 months before the conventions, with the Democrats holding theirs in Denver August 25-28 and the GOP in Minneapolis from September 1-4. So we’ll have a flurry of activity during the coldest months of the year only to allow the mudslinging to go on for months. I’m here to tell you that 2008 will be the dirtiest Presidential campaign we’re ever seen, regardless of who wins the primaries. It used to be that people were partisan but not as aggresively so as we are now. (As a blogger, I take part of the blame but not too much. At least I give Democrats the time of day without too many swipes at them.)

I’m hoping that this is finally the year that marks the end of the insanity of 18 month long Presidential campaigns and brings about a quicker, more uptempo campaign season in 2012. One thing I liked when I moved to Maryland and became involved in state politics was the compressed campaign schedule between primary and general state elections. In 2006 there were just 8 weeks between elections, ample time for the primary survivors to focus their campaign. (In Ohio, there was about a 6-8 month lag time depending on whether it was a Presidential election year or not – off-year primaries were held in May.)

With this in mind, here’s my humble suggestion for scheduling the 2012 election season. Working backwards from Election Day, this will assume that the two national conventions will be held roughly the same time as they are in 2008.

November 6, 2012 – General Election.

September 3-6, 2012 – Republican National Convention.

August 27-30, 2012 – Democrat National Convention.

May 22, May 29, June 5, June 12, June 19, June 26, 2012 – Primary elections in 8-state regional groups. These groups will rotate every 4 years so that the last in line for 2012 becomes first in 2016 and the others push back one week. Suggested state groups:

  • Northeast: ME, VT, MA, RI, CT, NY, PA, NJ
  • Atlantic Coast: MD, DE, VA, DC, NC, SC, GA, FL, WV
  • Great Lakes: OH, MI, KY, TN, IL, IN, WI, MN
  • Mid-South: AL, MS, LA, TX, OK, AR, MO, KS
  • Great Plains: NE, SD, ND, CO, MT, UT, WY, NM
  • Pacific: HI, AK, CA, OR, WA, AZ, NV, ID

This also keeps the traditional states first. I forget the exact method these are scheduled but I think in my plan, based on 2008, New Hampshire would have its primary on May 15 and the Iowa caucuses May 10. So we complete the process in six months from first vote to last. I’d have placed the primaries even closer to the convention but there’s holidays in the span and I thought eight weeks would be sufficient for delegates to make travel arrangements, get the vacation time from work, etc.

I also think it would be an advantage to have the regional primaries because areas like ours and others in flyover country would get to be more important when they happen to have the first primary dates. Sure, we’d be lumped in with Florida and larger states but look at what we have now.

As I said, I hope that the lunacy of having the first votes cast 10 months prior to the general election will goad people into action. Because I’m a proponent of states’ rights, it seems to me the only way to instill the required discipline to the states is through the Republican and Democrat parties severely punishing those who step out of line and try to leapfrog the process. The exact methods would need to be hashed out by the parties themselves.

I just humbly toss out the suggestion as one method to combat voter apathy and make the campaigns mean more than just excuses to spend lots and lots of money. Feel free to add to the conversation.

Author: Michael

It's me from my laptop computer.