2016 Postmortem
In reply to the discussion: What would happen if we had a national primary? [View all]Garrett78
(10,721 posts)Personally, I'd like every state to have their primary over the course of the same few days (maybe a Friday through Sunday in January), following 2 or 3 months of campaigning. The top 2 (or possibly 3 if a certain threshold is met) would advance, and the rest would have to drop out. After more campaigning, every state would once again hold a primary election (over the course of 3 days) and a nominee would be determined. Endorsements would be allowed, of course. But there would be no such thing as a "superdelegate."
Generally, there's a frontrunner and several alternatives to the frontrunner. The problem is the alternatives tend to split the vote, which is an advantage to the frontrunner (it's not really an issue with the Democrats this year as it quickly became a 2-person race, but it is certainly an issue for the Republicans this year). That's why I would support an elimination round and then a 2nd round to determine the nominee.
Also, I don't see why IA or NH or SC (or any single state) should have so much influence over the results (why should "momentum" be a factor in deciding who the nominee should be?). Especially states that don't mirror the overall electorate.