I had two posts at Washblog this week (here and here) grinding the stone on getting a Presidential primary next year. It turned out all wrong at the state central committee in Bellingham.
The best post of the conversation was Steve’s (who turns out to be the man behind the initiative to get the primary in the first place):
A second major reason to support the Presidential Primary is that it, and not the caucus,is a better and more realistic organizing tool for Democratic politics. The Presidential Primary is a trial run for candidates to turn out voters to support them and more accurately reflects the actual pool of voters who will be voting in November Presidential election. There is a big difference in mobilizing 1% of the voters to turn out for a Democratic caucus versus trying to get the a majority of registered voters to vote for you in a primary.
Thanks for your support for a Presidential Primary. It is unfortunate that the Washington State Democrats think that a caucus is the way to go when it excludes so many potential voters. It is a throwback to the days when a small group of people ran the show and didn’t involve the public.
You’re right, Washington state will now be a footnote in the nominating process and other states will decide the day. Because of the small number of people involved in the caucus system it in no way reflects either the viablity of a candidate or their voter appeal to people voting in the November Presidential election.
As the Republicans in Washington State in 1988 showed with their caucus support of Pat Robertson for President, the caucus system can be manipulated.
The caucus system more reflects the fervor of a small number of people – a process that can totally distort the sentiments of the larger voting populace and result in candidates being nominated that the larger voting population would never support.