Fixing the Primaries

While we're on the subject of the presidential primaries, I pretty much agree with the sentiment expressed by Mr. Yglesias here. The Democrats holding their highly influential first primaries in a pair of small, lily white states is counterproductive at best. I'd like to see a much better representation of the overall populace, in general, and Democratic voters in particular – so I think the move to get South Carolina and New Mexico into the early mix this year is a good thing.

At the same time, I'm leery of giving largely, urbanized states more sway. You don't want, for example, California to be the initial primary because it gives a decided advantage to those candidates who are able to quickly raise and spend money to blanket such a large state with advertising. In other words, the establishment candidates who have the bakcing of the national party and their big pocket donors. There's something to be said for retail politics, after all, and a smaller state where voters have an opportunity to examine the candidates up close and in person. Maybe not as much as has been fetishized by various writers over the years but enough that it's a concern.

So, what I'd do to fix the situation, if I had my way, would be something like how I'd deal with the NFL's traditional Thanksgiving games. In case you don't know, I'm from Detroit which means I'm only vaguely aware of what NFL football is since we have the Lions instead of an actual franchise. But one of the quirks about the Lions is that they play a game, at home, on Thanksgiving every year. Just like Dallas. Since the game's on a Thursday, it makes for a short week of practice and although you wouldn't know it to look at the Lions record lately, combined with the home field advantage provides a slight but significant advantage to their overall chances of winning. A couple percentage points, sure, but more than the other 30 teams that don't get a home date on Thanksgiving get.

As you might imagine, the other teams weren't exactly happy with that. There have been proposals and plans over the years to take the Thanksgiving games away from Detroit and spread that advantage around the league more equitably (Although, I'll note, never any serious proposals to eliminate the Thanksgiving game altogether. The NFL is out to make money after all.). But you have to understand, there's been a Lions' game on Thanksgiving since 1934. I've gone. My father's gone. His father's gone. Head downtown, watch the parade, and then head off to the stadium before heading off to the homestead for the turkey dinner. It makes for a nice day (Especially since when I was going to them was the heyday of the Barry Sander's era. The team might have sucked but you at least knew you were going to get a good show.). And we're not the only family in the area to have done the same. And there's no way the Lions give up a guaranteed game on national TV. Not as long as they've got all that Ford advertising money behind them (You ever wonder why a cold-weather state got the Superbowl, it's right there. The Ford Motor Company is one of the league's biggest sponsors, the NFL will bend over backwards to keep them happy. The team plays in Ford Field which is right off of the Ford freeway. Guess who owns the team?).

It's just a given that Detroit and Dallas (even though they haven't been doing it nearly as long) are going to have that game. But it's also a given that it's unfair that they do. I've always suggested that rather than taking those games away from Detroit and Dallas they should add some more. Create one or two more Thanksgiving games since the Detroit and Dallas games are done by primetime in the east so there's room on the schedule and the American public is always thirsty for more football. Then you rotate those among the rest of the league, trying to balance between teams that haven't had a Thanksgiving game in a while and teams that are going to put eyes on the screen. The league gets to put together a marquee match-up for national television with a holiday audience, Detroit gets to keep its tradition, and the other teams get to share in the advantage and spectacle as well. That's actually what happened a few years ago as the NFL Network – not quite broadcast TV but, still – now shows a third game on Thanksgiving Day.

And that's what I'd suggest for the presidential primaries as well. Let New Hampshire and Iowa keep their tradition and prestige but add a few more primaries from states selected through demographic and regional means. Then next election you rotate those elections so other states can be included, too. This year we've got South Carolina and New Mexico. In 2012 we could have Atlanta and Arizona. And I'd thrown in a western state, like Oregon, too. And so on, in order to equally represent the states over time but also to best capture the electorate that the eventual candidates are going to be appealing to, in the general election, Republican or Democrat. You need a mix, after all, of big states and small states, of urban and rural, of minorities and majorities if you want to win the White House. Politicians and consultants spend a lot of time jiggering with the borders of their districts for better elections, I don't see why we can't apply some of that to the primaries as well.