The campaign is far too long and far too costly.
Up until the late 60s, only a handful of states had primary elections. The nominations were decided at the political conventions (mostly by backroom deal-making which has its obvious downside).
The
McGovern Commission changed all that and now the primary system is a creature until itself and serves more than just the political process. Consider the positive economic impact for small towns in Iowa and New Hampshire. It also has the positive impact of providing face-to-face meetings with the next potential president for alot more people who would otherwise never have that opportunity. A negative is that these small early primary states have far too much influence in the selection of the ultimate candidates.
The problem is a need to build momentum going into the early primary states because if you dont show well in those states, you're finished.
I dont have an answer. I like the idea of a national primary,although I dont think that would shorten the campaign season.
Are there ways to get more voters involved in the selection process in a shorter period of time?
Some interesting thoughts from a symposium on the nomination process:
http://www.centerforpolitics.org/ref...nominating.htm
Maybe we need another commission to look into it.
