Volume 2 Issue 18
February 26, 2003
[Insert your own snow pun here]
Front-loading the primaries, politicans being dumb, and Homer goes to London
Sorry folks, after so many snowstorms, I'm out of snow puns for the time being...you'll have to make your own up today! Looks like we're destined for another foot of snow between now and the weekend in DC, boy even winter lovers like myself are getting tired of this...though I do prefer the snow to rain, which could result in my basement submerging again...
Down below you'll see some articles about how many states are trying to move their primaries up so they can be a part of the 2004 nominating season, which will likely be wrapped up by early March. While my home state of New Jersey continues to hold its primary in June, when most have even forgotten who the other candidates were, more and more states are moving up their dates every 4 years. This could be a problem, because it has resulted in more "front-loading" every cycle, where most of the primaries take place in a short period of time.
The catch is that all these states moving their primaries up will have three negative consequences for them. First, the more states that hold early primaries, the less influence each state has. For instance, you can name Iowa and New Hampshire as the earliest primaries...but how many states from "Super Tuesday" can you remember (though a Super Tuesday may not exist next year...)? Too many cooks spoil the broth, and these states that are moving up their primaries now may find themselves just one of many when that date rolls around.
Secondly, having front-loaded primaries increases the odds that money will make the difference, not skill or issues. Now, one may ask why that's not such a bad thing, given that the President would need to raise money, except that Presidential campaigns are publicly financed, so the need to raise money isn't as great as during the primaries. General election candidates should be viable though, since they need to raise money for the party as a whole. But a longer primary season also gives candidates a chance to be vetted better. What if Bill Clinton's Gennifer Flowers problem had showed up on the eve of the convention, instead of up in New Hampshire when he had time to straighten it out. And, when a candidate is not qualified, such as Gary Hart in 1984, a primary process can bring that out too.
Finally, a consequence most of these states don't see is that they may be making it harder for the party to come together after a candidate gets the nomination. By having their primaries earlier, they all but guarantee that the each of the 8 candidates will compete in their states. But, most states distribute delegates on a proportional basis, which means the "winner" of that state may only end up with 35% of the delegates. This means that the other minor candidates could eventually rack up enough delegates to be spoilers and kingmakers, and people like Al Sharpton may end up addressing the convention in prime-time.
So what's the answer? Well, it was already suggested years ago, but appears to have fallen by the wayside. What is commonly known as the "Delaware plan" (after Delaware tried to push up it's primary and failed) would preserve Iowa and New Hampshire, and then give each state a chance to be "first" every 4 cycles. The nation would have 4 "regional primary days", separated by 2 weeks, the first being 2 weeks after New Hampshire, which would be 2 weeks after Iowa. So one year the Eastern states would go, then the South, then the Midwest, then the West. And then the next cycle it would rotate, so that the South would go first, etc... I would in addition give DC it's due and put it in third, after New Hampshire and before the first regional primary. This would cut costs for candidates too, since they would be in the same area, and not jet setting around to campaign in far flung states that happen to hold their primary on the same day. The best part about this plan is that it would take no federal laws or amending of the Constitution to accomplish, just a simple rule change by the parties that the states would adopt. Of course, like I said this plan has been out there for years, and I'm not really sure why it never caught on. Perhaps it will take a major primary season disaster to fix, just as it took the 2000 election to make the nation finally upgrade its voting systems.
Anyway, let's put on the snowshoes and start the insanity!
Countdown Iraq: Sorry...had to use that title eventually :)
A theologian says that this war is not morally right, and that Bush should not be saying it's the "Christian" thing to do -
http://www.time.com/time/covers/1101030303/esduke.html
How many civilians would be killed in an Iraqi war...figuring it out is harder than you think -
http://slate.msn.com/id/2079264/
The US also is preparing a list of which Iraqi's will be tried for war crimes, and which will be allowed to "switch sides". -
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/02/26/international/middleeast/2 6ELIT.html
The War Could cost $95 billion dollars -
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A3517-2003Feb26.html
Dan interviewed Saddam, and then Saddam interviewed Dan -
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A2428-2003Feb25.html
"So Washington's gotten how much snow this winter? Guess our little machine is working. Oops, I didn't say that, let's edit that out."
Yay! Oil!: Venezuela has begun exporting oil again...mabye gas prices will relax a bit before hitting the roof when the war starts -
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/02/26/business/worldbusiness/26O IL.html?8hpib
The King of Chicago: Richard Daley yesterday won his 5th term as mayor with 79% of the vote...did you know these "elections" are now non-partisan? -
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-0302260388feb26,1,7976644.story?coll=chi%2Dhomepagepromo451%2Dfea
Bad Political Moves: Cherry Hill, NJ mayor Bernie Platt has spent almost his entire term so far in Florida, while multiple snowstorms have hit the area, and a billion dollar development plan fell through. -
http://www.courierpostonline.com/news/southjersey/m022603b.h tm
Bad Political Moves 2: Is the Bush administration planning to privatize the air traffic control system? Yeah, because that will make flying even safer! Why would we at one end of air travel nationalize the workers (security) but at an even more sensitive level (operations) privatize them? -
http://www.nj.com/news/ledger/jersey/index.ssf?/base/news-3/1046245811229040.xml
Bad Political Moves 3: Roll Call reports today that Senator Lincoln Chaffee (R-RI) was denied a seat on the Senate Budget Committee, and that less senior senators were put on it over him. This is bad for the GOP, because Chaffee is just looking for a reason to jump parties, and once again they may have given him one.
When did Alan Greenspan become a liberal? Remember folks, this guy was appointed by Reagan...and yesterday he announced his opposition to raising the $100,000 limit on FDIC insurance at banks, saying it "would only help rich people." Wow. -
http://www.boston.com/dailynews/057/economy/Greenspan_reiter ates_oppositio:.shtml
Look Who's Running for President: Bob Shrum apparently had decided to work for John Kerry, according to ABC. Shrum is the biggest Democratic media consultant out there, and his choosing Kerry over Edwards, who he has done extensive work in the past, is a big win for Kerry, and may push Edwards out of the race entirely (which would stink, because then I'd need to find another weird looking person to pester with photos). General consensus now is that Kerry is the front runner -
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/02/26/politics/campaigns/26DEMS. html
Here's a backgrounder on Shrum -
http://slate.msn.com/id/2065586/
Look Who's Running for President 2: Dean-maina continues -
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/02/25/opinion/lynch/main 541905.shtml
And he even got attacked by Tom DeLay! Wow, he's really arrived -
http://www.washtimes.com/national/20030226-286739.htm
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/02/26/politics/26DELA.html
Look Who Can't Run for President: Is it time to amend the Constitution to allow those who are not natural-born citizens to run for President? -
http://slate.msn.com/id/2079204/
Look Who's Voting for President: The DC "first in the nation" primary bill continues to make its way through the DC government machine. The bill was marked up yesterday in a council session, and will have it's first reading on March 4. Stay tuned...
Look Who's Voting for President 2: Virginia will move it's primary to February 10, and Maryland will follow soon. I have this feeling that we may end up having all the primaries on one day... -
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A2266-2003Feb25.html
Look Who's Voting for President 3: New Hampshire is preparing to fend off Michigan's challenge to it's "first in the nation" status -
http://www.politicsnh.com/archives/pindell/2003/february/2_2 6_03.shtml
Bad John Edwards Photo of the Day:
"No Carol, I will not bet you that Al Sharpton will get more votes than me."
Space Shuttle Columbia: NASA has found a videotape from the shuttle cabin during reentry. Unfortunately, it was burned, so the tape cuts off about 5 minutes before the trouble started -
http://www.cnn.com/2003/TECH/space/02/25/sprj.colu.debris/in dex.html
Zell is pissed: Zell Miller took to the Senate floor yesterday to bash CBS' plan for a new "hillbilly" reality show. Takes something to make a Senator say he's a hillbilly on the Senate floor -
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A2786-2003Feb25.html
Goodbye, Bibi Ariel Sharon has fired Binyamin Netanyahu from his job as foreign minister -
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/2801311.stm
Goodbye, Pioneer 10: The first big exploratory spacecraft, first to leave the solar system and the furthest man-made object from earth has finally lost its ability to transmit back home after 30 years -
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/news/archive/2003/02/25/state1929EST0127.DTL
Goodbye, Concorde? British Airways is considering discontinuing service using the only passenger supersonic plane -
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/2800519.stm
The French take their food seriously: A famous French chef killed himself after his restaurant lost points in a prestigious guide -
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/news/archive/2003/02/25/international1419EST0625.DTL
A Gamblin Man: Pete Rose may have his case for reinstatement to baseball heard...or maybe not, since he was recently seen gambling at a Las Vegas Casino -
http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/5262898.htm
Boozin on-line: Pennsylvania's latest attempt to preserve its liquor cartel is a on-line wine site, to try and prevent citizens from going to other states to buy booze (which is illegal there) -
http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/5262854.htm
Look who's going to London: They've gotten criticism in Brazil, run out of France, and been a hit in Australia. Next stop for the Simpsons...England, in an episode that will feature Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling, as well as Ian McClellan and possibly Tony Blair -
http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2-2003091122,00.html
Headline of the day: "Lesbian Japanese monkeys challenge Darwin's assumptions" Can't really top that one -
http://www.arts.telegraph.co.uk/connected/main.jhtml?xml=/co nnected/2003/02/21/ecnaa19.xml&sSheet=/connected/2003/02/21/ixconn.html
