If we had 1 set Primary Day, do you think McCain STILL would've been the R-Candidate?

[HomeschoolrsRUs]

I don't propose that the Federal Government control the date of the Primary vote - The less the government is involved in our freedoms, the better...

But why brudder? Why shouldn't the Federal Government control the date for the Federal election? I can see the states setting their own dates for state and local elections, but not when it comes to the Federal Government -- it should be uniform, and unless someone can point out where I'm wrong, there should be set dates. I absolutely am convinced, if there had been one primary day, we might still not have had the candidate of MY choice, but dog gone sure WOULDN'T have been stuck with McCain.

But I would like to see a mutual agreement between all the parties to hold ONE primary vote in the Spring, with a later date in June or July for any necessary runoff elections...

That works, but this mutual agreement crud is for the birds. Announce the first of January, have the 1st primary the last week of March (3 month cycle), the run-off the last week of June (3 month cycle), the election the first Tuesday in Nov. (4 month cycle). That settles it.

So sayeth Hms, Queen Of My Double-Wide Trailer and Da Trailerhood

[Rhino]

But why brudder? Why shouldn't the Federal Government control the date for the Federal election?

Primaries aren't a federal election. They aren't elections at all.

[Lazarus]

But why brudder? Why shouldn't the Federal Government control the date for the Federal election? I can see the states setting their own dates for state and local elections, but not when it comes to the Federal Government -- it should be uniform, and unless someone can point out where I'm wrong, there should be set dates. ... That works, but this mutual agreement crud is for the birds...

I will endeavor to explain, my dearest...

The primary elections are NOT a Federal election... They are the election processes where the various political parties choose the candidates that they will submit to the General election... In essence the Primary elections are functions of the various political parties - which are in effect private organizations - not an arm of the government...

Example: The Democrats don't even have to hold Primary elections - They could in fact appoint a committee of party bosses to choose their candidate that they will apply to the Government to put on the ballot for the general election... The Libertarians could choose their candidate by lottery - The Pubs could choose their candidate by a cage fight...

IOW, the Federal government is not involved or interested in the Primary elections - Those are the individual nominating processes of the various parties and the voting public is not abliged to support any of those candidates...

Technically a single, non-partisan candidate could apply to have his name on each state ballot with a minimal petition of names nominating him, with NO PARTY AFFILIATION, and the majority of American voters could in fact elect that candidate (to the great consternation of the Pubs and Dems who think they own our political system...

In fact if the American people were so inclined and organized in their thinking, they could all write-in a name of a candidate not even ON the state ballots...

My point is that the Primaries are a period when the various parties (not just the Dems and Pubs) choose the candidates that they will submit to be on the November ballot - There is a deadline to submit such candidates, but how the parties come by their candidates is their own private affair... In effect they aren't even subject to discrimination laws because the parties are private organizations, unassociated with the Federal government, and the public is not abliged to support their choices...

We do NOT want the government dictating regulations to the various political parties as to their management or means of selecting their candidates - The day that happens is the day we become slaves to the state... Political parties MUST ALWAYS remain free from government control just as the Press is... It would be a direct violation of the right to Free Speech if the government did such a thing...

The only regulation that the government should control is the deadline for submitting candidates to the General election...

NOW......... Having said that, there is an associated issue that I believe the Federal government SHOULD step in and control and that is the balloting mechanism that is used for election of the President - ALL states should be required to use ONE common balloting system for electing the President since he is the one elected official that reaches across all 50 states - NO MORE BUTTERFLY BALLOTS - NO MORE HANGING CHADS... All States should use one common, certifiable, verifiable, and indisputable mechanism...

Apologies if I just branched this thread off topic...

[PrezLeefun]

Primaries aren't a federal election. They aren't elections at all.

Ok now I am really lost. You are going to have elaborate on that one. How are they not elections?


scratch that. I read what Laz put up. Still the whole concept is a tad bit off for me.

[Naturalized-Texan]

If we had 1 set Primary Day, do you think McCain STILL would've been the R-Candidate?

Yes, because there was no viable conservative candidate who had enough fire in his belly to make a strong run for the nomination. In addition, the Dems probably would have still crossed over to vote for McCain.

[Naturalized-Texan]

Ok now I am really lost. You are going to have elaborate on that one. How are they not elections?

They are not federal elections. The primaries are controlled by the political parties under the auspices of the states,

[Suzie]

I wonder if I would actually get to vote if they did it all on one day?

Probably won't matter anymore when Obama is elected. They will probably do it the way WV did all across the country and only a few hand picked "GOP representatives" (<---- which here means democrats who want to run against other democrats who already hold the seat so they register as Republican but have very little chance with a R after their name) and they will get to pick the candidate that has the least chance of winning.

[Lazarus]

Yes, because there was no viable conservative candidate who had enough fire in his belly to make a strong run for the nomination. In addition, the Dems probably would have still crossed over to vote for McCain.

I disagree there, Tex...

If we were all on one common day for the Primary, two things would happen...

1) the Dems would not be crossing over because they would all be scrapping over their own candidates - The crossovers occurred in those early states where Hilary was being coronated, long before there was any actual competition forming in the race - Thus those medlesome activist Leftists felt free to spend their votes supporting their Leftist mole in the Republican party... This wouldn't happen if ALL the eggs for the nomination were in one basket... And ...

2) We would have ended up (IMO) with a run-off of a reduced field of candidates made up of only those who made the cut of some arbitrary vote count... If we will all recall, right thru Super Tuesday Mitt Romney had a resounding lead in delegate counts... A primary in the early Spring (say March) would eliminate those non-viable candidates, and leave us with 2 or three to go into a run-off...

Under those conditions I believe we would have ended up with a moderately Conservative candidate - In this season I believe it would have been Romney... He had the financial resources to plow into a single ballot date across all 50 states... And he was "moderate" enough to satisfy a lot of those uncommitted, wishywashy moderate Pub voters...

[HomeschoolrsRUs]

Mea Culpa . . . Okay, I stand corrected,

Still think there should be one Primary Day, one run-off day, and one election day (for both parties, same day), period. I agree the Fed Gov shouldn't be dictating HOW the canddiates are arrived at, but WHEN is a different story. I still believe it should be uniform (I agree with one ballot type), and it should be one set date.

[PrezLeefun]

^^^^What my big sis said.

[Lazarus]

The parties would be smart to do this because their customers - the voters - are SICK of this protracted campaign season... A single primary day across all states like the general election would produce more voters...