Oregon's presidential primary too late?
Oregon's presidential primary too late?
SALEM, Ore. (AP) - Oregon's Democrats and Republicans may disagree on many issues, but leaders from both parties are making noises about changing the date of Oregon's presidential primary. Falling in May, it comes too late to change the course of the campaign, and that means the state may attract few major contenders.
The 2008 presidential campaign is shaping up to be the most wide-open in a half-century, with possibly a dozen or more contenders competing.
If the past is any guide, Oregon's May 2008 primary will not be a battleground since the front-runners likely will have won enough delegates from earlier state primaries to cinch their parties' presidential nominations by then.
That was the case in the 2004 election, when Democratic contender John Kerry didn't pay a visit to Oregon until the day before Oregon's May primary. President Bush, who ran unopposed for the GOP nomination, didn't visit the state until the fall campaign.
That Oregon's presidential primary has become such a nonevent dismays the state Republican and Democratic parties' top officials.
"People tend to forget about Oregon in the primaries, and that's wrong," says Oregon GOP Chairman Vance Day.
Oregon Democratic Chairman Jim Edmunson concurs, saying that Oregon's late primary "is largely meaningless."
Both Day and Edmunson see the solution in having the Legislature move up the date of Oregon's presidential primary - possibly to right after the first wave of voting in Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina, set to take place Jan. 14-29 of next year.
"Being No. 5 works for me. The earliest possible date in 2008 would be my preference" if cost and other issues can be worked out, Edmunson said.
Oregon's top election official, Secretary of State Bill Bradbury, said it bothers him, too, that the state's voters have so little say in picking presidential nominees.
However, Bradbury believes the solution lies in a proposal by the National Association of Secretaries of State to create a system of rotating regional primaries aimed at giving all states a voice in the process.
Under that plan, which would require approval by both national parties, the country would be divided up into four regional primaries, and they would take turns being the first to vote every four years.
That's a better approach than having states compete with each other to be among the first to conduct presidential primaries, Bradbury said.
"The more we try to frontload the presidential primary system, the more broken it becomes," the secretary of state said.
Proposals to move the primary date are aimed at helping Oregon regain some of the influence it used to have over the selecting of presidential nominees, back when it was one of the earliest to conduct presidential primaries.
Oregon became a key battleground - and a crucial run-up to the California primary - in the 1968 Democratic race between Robert Kennedy and Eugene McCarthy.
Riding a wave of sentiment against the Vietnam War, McCarthy won Oregon's primary, marking the first time any of the Kennedy brothers had ever lost an election.
Since then, more states have moved to earlier presidential primaries, leaving Oregon with little clout in the picking of presidential nominees.
In 1995, the Legislature decided to shift Oregon's 1996 primary to March 12 in a bid to recapture some of the state's earlier influence. However, Republican front-runner Bob Dole made only one brief visit to Oregon that year. Then-President Clinton was running for re-election and didn't travel to the state until the fall campaign.
Day said 1996 was a fairly noncompetitive presidential election and that the Legislature should give the earlier primary date one more try in what's expected to be the hotly contested 2008 presidential sweepstakes.
The state GOP chairman said he's discussed the concept informally with some House and Senate members, and believes the idea will get a full airing later in this year's legislative session.
"Oregon's voice needs to be heard, but it won't be with a May primary," he said.
A spokesman for Oregon House Speaker Jeff Merkley said no one has come forward yet with a specific proposal to move Oregon's primary election day.
"It's not leading our agenda, but we're open to good ideas," spokesman Russ Kelley said. "If somebody makes an issue of it, we certainly would give it a fair hearing."
http://www.kval.com/news/local/5282156.html
SALEM, Ore. (AP) - Oregon's Democrats and Republicans may disagree on many issues, but leaders from both parties are making noises about changing the date of Oregon's presidential primary. Falling in May, it comes too late to change the course of the campaign, and that means the state may attract few major contenders.
The 2008 presidential campaign is shaping up to be the most wide-open in a half-century, with possibly a dozen or more contenders competing.
If the past is any guide, Oregon's May 2008 primary will not be a battleground since the front-runners likely will have won enough delegates from earlier state primaries to cinch their parties' presidential nominations by then.
That was the case in the 2004 election, when Democratic contender John Kerry didn't pay a visit to Oregon until the day before Oregon's May primary. President Bush, who ran unopposed for the GOP nomination, didn't visit the state until the fall campaign.
That Oregon's presidential primary has become such a nonevent dismays the state Republican and Democratic parties' top officials.
"People tend to forget about Oregon in the primaries, and that's wrong," says Oregon GOP Chairman Vance Day.
Oregon Democratic Chairman Jim Edmunson concurs, saying that Oregon's late primary "is largely meaningless."
Both Day and Edmunson see the solution in having the Legislature move up the date of Oregon's presidential primary - possibly to right after the first wave of voting in Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina, set to take place Jan. 14-29 of next year.
"Being No. 5 works for me. The earliest possible date in 2008 would be my preference" if cost and other issues can be worked out, Edmunson said.
Oregon's top election official, Secretary of State Bill Bradbury, said it bothers him, too, that the state's voters have so little say in picking presidential nominees.
However, Bradbury believes the solution lies in a proposal by the National Association of Secretaries of State to create a system of rotating regional primaries aimed at giving all states a voice in the process.
Under that plan, which would require approval by both national parties, the country would be divided up into four regional primaries, and they would take turns being the first to vote every four years.
That's a better approach than having states compete with each other to be among the first to conduct presidential primaries, Bradbury said.
"The more we try to frontload the presidential primary system, the more broken it becomes," the secretary of state said.
Proposals to move the primary date are aimed at helping Oregon regain some of the influence it used to have over the selecting of presidential nominees, back when it was one of the earliest to conduct presidential primaries.
Oregon became a key battleground - and a crucial run-up to the California primary - in the 1968 Democratic race between Robert Kennedy and Eugene McCarthy.
Riding a wave of sentiment against the Vietnam War, McCarthy won Oregon's primary, marking the first time any of the Kennedy brothers had ever lost an election.
Since then, more states have moved to earlier presidential primaries, leaving Oregon with little clout in the picking of presidential nominees.
In 1995, the Legislature decided to shift Oregon's 1996 primary to March 12 in a bid to recapture some of the state's earlier influence. However, Republican front-runner Bob Dole made only one brief visit to Oregon that year. Then-President Clinton was running for re-election and didn't travel to the state until the fall campaign.
Day said 1996 was a fairly noncompetitive presidential election and that the Legislature should give the earlier primary date one more try in what's expected to be the hotly contested 2008 presidential sweepstakes.
The state GOP chairman said he's discussed the concept informally with some House and Senate members, and believes the idea will get a full airing later in this year's legislative session.
"Oregon's voice needs to be heard, but it won't be with a May primary," he said.
A spokesman for Oregon House Speaker Jeff Merkley said no one has come forward yet with a specific proposal to move Oregon's primary election day.
"It's not leading our agenda, but we're open to good ideas," spokesman Russ Kelley said. "If somebody makes an issue of it, we certainly would give it a fair hearing."
http://www.kval.com/news/local/5282156.html
posted by presgore19 at 6:30 PM
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