Some Thoughts on Frontloading

One of the things that drives the frontloading of presidential primaries is that every state in the nation (be it Texas, California, New Hampshire or pretty much any of the 47 others) believes that what's good for (insert your state's name here) is good for the nation. So we all believe our state is a good and special place, worthy of consideration by a presidential contender.

Fair enough. But this situation means that the current reality is that candidates go state-to-state and discuss that state's issue and pet projects. If you live in Minnesota, the fact that the candidates in Iowa are talking soy diesel and ethanol is good for you. But in California and New Jersey, those topics just don't matter. And California and New Jersey are leading the states who have grown tired of letting others select presidential candidates. The California primary has moved to March 5 and many others are looking to do the same. Under this regime, we'll have selected major party candidates by mid-March. For an election that is nearly 8 months away. Talk about election fatigue.

What the nation needs are candidates who can speak thoughtfully about national issues. We need to leave the local and regional issues to congressional candidates. It's fine with me if midwestern Senators wax on about ethanol, because I know that they need to do that to satisfy their constituents. But what of the national constituency? What are the issues that all of the United States needs to consider? How can we make those issues the center of presidential primaries? And how can we ensure that the election doesn't wear out its welcome in American households?

Regional primaries, that's how. It's too late for 2008, but for 2012, regional primaries would be one solution. We could organize into four or five regions (I prefer five: Northeast, Southeast, Southwest, Midwest, Northwest) and run regional primaries, taking turns in organizing the timing. For example, in 2012 we could run 5 "super" primaries, scheduled within four weeks of one another, starting in March and finishing by June. Fundraising could absorb the summer months before August party conventions kicked off a fall of election fun.

This scenario allows plenty of time to run a campaign and raise funds. Plenty of time to get national attention. And plenty of time to actually discuss the issues.