Mark Trahant: Election system presents few choices

Monday, September 10, 2007  

"Let's vote for president tomorrow. Or next week. If you want to see how fast the election calendar is changing, pick up a date book and flip pages with your thumb.

Last week, Michigan flicked its calendar forward and set a primary date of Jan. 15. Florida moved its date, too.

The point is we all want to go first. We all want a say in picking a party nominee and, by extension, the next president. This is what democracy is all about: Everyone must feel a part of the process. It doesn't matter if you're a Democrat, Republican, Green or Libertarian because the system is rigged to give you few choices.

Bigwigs and party bosses once made this call for us. Then convention delegates and, finally, so-called open caucus and primary contests that were essentially over long before the polls were even scheduled for Western states.

This very system already has cost this country a measure of greatness. If the sweep of primary elections started in the West, the country might have considered (if not elected) names that didn't make it through Iowa and New Hampshire."

Get the Story:
Election system has cost U.S. dearly (The Seattle Post-Intelligencer 9/9)

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