Time to end the primaries

greg334

Veteran Expediter
Sorry I don't buy into this idea that we need primaries to hold elections, when you really look at it, it seems to be a disenfranchising of sorts between the people and the representatives.

If you know the history of the presidential primary, then you will understand that it really has been a boondoggle that really is not a constitutional method of election but rather only benefits the two party system. For people who don't get it, this really is not the process envisioned by the founding fathers and truly detracts from the election, the issues and the actual people who run.

I heard the number of one hundred million being floated around today from the hillary camp and can't believe that they claim this is for the primary alone. But when I looked at the FEC numbers and added it all up, so far from both sides the amount of money that has been raised just on the primaries alone totals beyond $419,859,368 and some change and this is from the third quarter of 2007 filings. Much of this money has been put aside for just ads and commercials to tell the public that someone is running in the primary. I would say a lot of this will filter back the politicians somehow or be used for the general election.

Now if you look at Michigan, we don't even have on the ballot all the candidates, the DNC decided that they will not allow some to run in Michigan so the idea that the criticism of the primaries seems to be true with the fact that there is no real representation in the primaries of states or regions and the exclusion hurts the state on some fronts.

I say let the parties pick their own candidates at their convention, let them spend their own money and present them to the people in November so we can stop wasting money and making it all confusing for the people.
 

theoldprof

Veteran Expediter
Gregg. Can't agree with having the different parties pick the candidate. I, as a voter will have no say. I like the primaries. I can choose between Larry, Moe, and Curley. Then when the election comes around If my candidate didn't win, at least I know I had a vote. If the party picks the candidate I have no vote.
 

greg334

Veteran Expediter
But see Prof, the problem is this process is only for the political parties to present their representative as a candidate for an elected office, not an actual election process.

The process is flawed by two issues, one is the way money is used to determine the candidate (a form of lobbying) and the other is that we actually don't choose the candidate regardless what the process is external of the parties - the party does.

I feel that the elimination of the primaries which will force the exposure of the candidates through a normal election process and the focus on the real election can lead to more of a participation with people and a decline of voter fatigue which is caused in part by the overload of coverage within our media on the primaries instead of the election. By the time the election comes around in November, people are tired of hearing about hillary and Obama and who ever and many just don't even vote.

And beside that, the representatives who were elected to do a job were not absent form their job by campaigning, I think we would be better off.
 
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