Primary Schedule (1 Viewer)

[Optimus Prime]

Interesting article

Iowa is in the national consciousness for one reason and one reason only, it’s the first event of the presidential election calendar

If that’s taken away from them then the state becomes one of the Dakotas

I’m sure they’ll fight tooth and nail to keep it

I don’t know what metrics should be used to determine what state should be first but what ever it is there’s no way Iowa should be at the top of that list
==================================

For decades, Iowa has had an outsize impact on the nation’s politics, as President Biden’s recent pilgrimage to the state, in which he touted corn ethanol, shows.

But last week, a Democratic National Committee panel voted to remove Iowa’s caucuses from the first spot in the party’s presidential nominating calendar, opening the early window to any state that wishes to apply.

The move is long overdue.

Iowa’s dethroning is still not ensured, as an intense lobbying campaign will no doubt kick into gear.


The case against Iowa has been building for generations. Its residents enjoy lavish federal subsidies because of the undue political clout they hold.

The state’s caucus system, in which those who want to participate must show up in person to a specific location at a prescribed time of night and sit through interminable proceedings, is deeply undemocratic.

The state’s electorate is predominantly White, unreflective of either the nation or Democrats’ diverse coalition. To top it off, Iowa’s 2020 caucuses were a logistical disaster, as a new electronic results reporting system failed as much of the country awaited Iowans’ all-important verdict on who should be the next president.

Not only were results long delayed, but questions swirled about whether the results could be fully trusted……..

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/04/23/democratic-national-committee-iowa-nomination-calendar-change-overdue/

 

[SaulGoodmanEsq]

I'm not sure it matters too much as the last primary taught as results don't really matter when you have an orchestrated effort to make one candidate the nominee. This also applied to Clinton in 2016. If the DNC wants to do something meaningful they would abolish all superdelegates.

 

[MT15]

I'm not sure it matters too much as the last primary taught as results don't really matter when you have an orchestrated effort to make one candidate the nominee. This also applied to Clinton in 2016. If the DNC wants to do something meaningful they would abolish all superdelegates.

You’ll be happy to know that superdelegates played no role in Biden’s nomination, from Wikipedia:

‘On August 25, 2018, the Democratic National Committee agreed to reduce the influence of superdelegates by generally preventing them from voting on the first ballot at the Democratic National Convention, allowing their votes only in a contested nomination.’

 

[J-DONK]

The DNC shouldn't let a caucus system go first as a rule. There is a strong argument that the voting system is undemocratic, and by it's nature excludes anyone who doesn't have hours to waste.

 

[Optimus Prime]

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden has declared that Democrats should give up “restrictive” caucuses and prioritize diversity at the start of their presidential primary calendar — dealing a major blow to Iowa’s decadeslong status as the state that leads off the process.

In a letter Thursday to the rule-making arm of the Democratic National Committee, Biden did not mention specific states he’d like to see go first. But he has told Democrats he wants South Carolina moved to the first position, according to three people familiar with his recommendation who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss private conversations……

AP sources: Biden tells Dems he wants SC as 1st primary vote

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden has declared that Democrats should give up “restrictive” caucuses and prioritize diversity at the start of their presidential primary calendar — dealing a major blow to Iowa's decadeslong status as the state that leads off the process.

apnews.com

 

[Optimus Prime]

CNN) — The rule-making arm of the Democratic National Committee on Friday voted to approve a proposal to drastically reshape the 2024 presidential nominating calendar and make South Carolina the first state to hold a primary, followed by Nevada and New Hampshire on the same day a few days later, and then Georgia and Michigan before Super Tuesday.


President Joe Biden this week asked DNC leaders to adopt this early state lineup, which strips Iowa of its first-in-the-nation status. The proposal by the DNC’s Rules and Bylaws Committee needs to be approved at a full DNC meeting, which will take place early next year, and states will still need to set their own primary dates…….

 

[Optimus Prime]

The quirky, tradition-bound way in which political parties select their presidential standard-bearers has become less and less reflective of the dynamic, vast and diverse country the nation’s chief executive will lead.

But the Democratic National Committee, whose rules and bylaws committee begins a two-day meeting on Friday, might at last be taking some steps toward a more rational process.

The Post’s Michael Scherer and Tyler Pager reported Thursday night that the president has written a letter asking the DNC to make South Carolina the first primary state, followed by New Hampshire and Nevada the next week and Georgia and Michigan after that — a move that shocked party leaders. Crucially, he also suggested that the national Democratic Party should review the calendar every four years.

If Democrats accept this plan, it would break the decades-long hold a pair of privileged states have had on at the party’s presidential nomination process.


The current primary system gives outsize influence — and the ability to winnow the field — to leadoff states Iowa and New Hampshire, two small and homogeneous places that are not reflective of the population or the interests of a wide swath of the country.

Candidates pander to them, and Americans pay the price — for instance, with politically untouchable subsidies for corn ethanol and home heating oil.

Nor have the two leadoff states been particularly shrewd at picking winners lately; in 2020, Mr. Biden came in fourth in Iowa and limped out of New Hampshire after placing fifth. It took a near-miraculous save by Black voters in South Carolina (fourth on the calendar) to put the former vice president back in the race.
Mr. Biden now wants to repay the supporters without whom he would not be president.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/12/01/iowa-new-hampshire-primary-fixes/

 

[GrandAdmiral]

Waiting for the RNC to cry reverse racism...

 

[SamAndreas]

CNN) — The rule-making arm of the Democratic National Committee on Friday voted to approve a proposal to drastically reshape the 2024 presidential nominating calendar and make South Carolina the first state to hold a primary, followed by Nevada and New Hampshire on the same day a few days later, and then Georgia and Michigan before Super Tuesday.


President Joe Biden this week asked DNC leaders to adopt this early state lineup, which strips Iowa of its first-in-the-nation status. The proposal by the DNC’s Rules and Bylaws Committee needs to be approved at a full DNC meeting, which will take place early next year, and states will still need to set their own primary dates…….

Yeah!

Better yet would be to strip both New Hampshire and Nevada from being in the "few days later"

 

[MT15]

This move was definitely needed. Glad they’ve addressed it.

 

[SaulGoodmanEsq]

South Carolina going first is laughable and I'm sure in no way tied to the fact that it bailed him out in the 2020 primary. Michigan would make the most sense.

 

[Taurus]

Why on Earth would they have a state in which Dem voters may as well not exist in the general have such a huge impact on who's running?

 

[GrandAdmiral]

Why on Earth would they have a state in which Dem voters may as well not exist in the general have such a huge impact on who's running?

Joe Biden owes them for saving his campaign. No other reason in my opinion.

 

[Optimus Prime]

South Carolina going first is laughable and I'm sure in no way tied to the fact that it bailed him out in the 2020 primary. Michigan would make the most sense.

Why Michigan?

 

[SaulGoodmanEsq]

Why Michigan?

Seems like the most diverse (both racially and alignment-wise in the DNC), larger population that is probably a more accurate reflection of America as a whole, and its a key battleground state in the general election. 2024 is going to be won in Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania. Those were the key states in 2016, too. Assuming all of the 'safe' blue states remain blue, then if the Democrat nominee wins Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania, they don't even need to win Nevada, Arizona, Georgia, or North Carolina. That said, you probably can't count Virginia as being safe blue given Youngkin's election so you'd need to pick up those 13 votes in the latter states I named.

 

[SaulGoodmanEsq]

Why on Earth would they have a state in which Dem voters may as well not exist in the general have such a huge impact on who's running?

As GA said, it's a way to ensure Jim Clyburn still has power despite retiring from his leadership post. Otherwise it makes no objective sense whatsoever.

 

[GrandAdmiral]

As GA said, it's a way to ensure Jim Clyburn still has power despite retiring from his leadership post. Otherwise it makes no objective sense whatsoever.

It's also pretty easy to push through when the DNC chair (Jamie Harrison) is from the state.

 

[SaulGoodmanEsq]

It's also pretty easy to push through when the DNC chair (Jamie Harrison) is from the state.

Completely slipped my mind. Great point. Wonder if this was some 4D chess move from ol' Joey B from Scranton, PA.