Super Tuesday Suddenly Less ‘Super’
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James Joyner | Friday, March 9, 2007 |
Hotline observes that we may have seen the last “Super Tuesday” worthy of the name “Super.”
As many as 26 states could hold their primaries or caucuses on 2/5/08, representing a full 70% of the U.S. population. By the end of Feb. ‘08, 40 states and DC may have held some sort of delegate selection process, meaning nearly 86% of Americans will have been able to vote for president before what would traditionally be the March “Super Tuesday.”
Unless this somehow causes the system to collapse and has the parties and states scrambling for a way to re-stagger the primaries–which I don’t see–then we may have a national primary in 2012. Certainly, if one or both party nominations are locked up before March, the other ten states are going to feel mighty stupid for having missed the chance to join the party.
Then again, I’ve been arguing for a national primary for several years now.
About the Author: James Joyner is the publisher of Outside the Beltway and the managing editor of the Atlantic Council. He's a former Army officer, Desert Storm vet, and college professor with a PhD in political science from The University of Alabama. He lives just outside the Beltway in Alexandria, Virginia.
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There are good reasons for and against a national primary, but how we are going about it is not the best way.
Actually, doesn't this just mean that "Super Tuesday" is moving a month earlier, and becoming even more "super"?
That will probably be true. However if a clear winner does not happen, the remainding10 States will get more attention then they receive in all the elections in the last 100 years. Most of the small states receive little attention in the primaries and general election now.
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