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February 13, 2012
Binyamin Rose: Back to the Bunker: How a life-risking act by a Christian family during the Holocaust saved a family and built a thriving community a world away
Menachem Wecker: Business Schools Teach Real Estate Despite Troubled Housing Market
February 10, 2012
Lisa M. Krieger: Man with defibrillator demands access to his own heart's information
David G. Savage: Why activists may not be in a hurry to have High Court rule on alternative marriage
February 9, 2012
Laura McMullen: 10 Least Expensive Public Schools for Out-of-State Students
Kimberly Palmer: How to actually enjoy -- relaxing, financially -- your vacation
February 8, 2012
Warren Richey: Why momentous Prop. 8 ruling might not satisfy gay-rights groups
Menachem Wecker: Though Controversial, LL.M.'s Can Lead to Specialized Legal Jobs
The Kosher Gourmet byDana Velden: Going to the bother of making soup? You know it better be good. This CREAM OF TOMATO SOUP certainly is! And it's a cinch to make, too (Includes techinques and serving secrets)
February 7, 2012
Frank J. Gaffney, Jr.: Caught off-guard? President's Super Bowl interview with Matt Lauer gives those who need a reason not to vote for him, a darn good one
Suzanne Bohan: Leaping lizards! Tiny reptiles advancing robot design
February 6, 2012
Jonathan Tobin: Iran Threatens Israel With Destruction, But the New York Times Doesn't Hear It
Jeffrey Fleishman: In newly democratic Egypt, tens of democracy activists jailed, to stand trial; their groups are 'threatening the stability of the homeland'
Julie Deardorff : Researchers say antioxidants may not be that effective and could do more harm than good
Mark Clayton: How did Anonymous hackers eavesdrop on FBI and Scotland Yard?
February 3, 2012
Edmund Sanders : Israeli official says Iran is creating missile that could reach East Coast of US
Victoria Kim: Immigrant-smuggling ring used black drivers to avoid racial profiling
February 2, 2012
Jim Carney: Wrong number call may have saved her life
Reza Kahlili : Ex-CIA spy in Iran's Revolutionary Guard: What Obama doesn't grasp about striking deals with Tehran
Tina Susman: For woodchuck rescuer, every day is Groundhog Day
February 1, 2012
Brian Bennett: US officials see increasing threat of domestic attack from Iran
Emily Brandon: How to Take Advantage of New 401(k) Fee Disclosures
January 31, 2012
January 30, 2012
Paul Richter and Ramin Mostaghim: Misreading Teheran's limits -- deadly and economically devastating as they may be -- is a risk administration, Europe seem willing to take
Suzanne Bohan: Warning: Nap-deprived tots missing more than sleep, study finds
Meg Handley: Banks Revamping Rewards Programs to Woo Customers
January 27, 2012
Caroline B. Glick: Obama: Of course I intend to prevent a nuclear holocaust . . . in a few months
Yochonon Donn: In liberal New York City, fervently-Orthodox Jews may soon be getting a district to call their own
Jeannine Stein: An inflated ego and thinking you're 'all that' doesn't just make others sick of you, it can make you ill
Katy Hopkins: New budget rules may affect how much money you get for college
January 26, 2012
Ed Koch: To the New York Times, calling for the murder of Jews by those capable of having their incitement taken seriously isn't news
Jeannine Stein: Mental illness struck one in five U.S. adults in 2010: Report
January 25, 2012
Richard Simon: House passes two bills endorsing the use of religious symbols at military memorials
Fred Weir: Putin: Multiethnic Russia cannot survive as a US-style 'melting pot'; must find its own way
Susan Johnston: 5 Sneaky Coupon Strategies Consumers Should Watch Out For
January 24, 2012
Carol Clark: The price of your soul: How your brain decides whether to 'sell out'
Caroline B. Glick: America lost most in 'Arab Spring'. Sadly, many voters still don't grasp the extent
Warren Richey: Drug criminal scores win in GPS ruling from conservative-leaning high court
Erika Bolstad: Black conservatives gather to talk about gaining strength
January 23, 2012
Melissa Dribben: Jewish voters to play a key role in Florida's Republican primary
Jordan Rau: In quest to grow, Catholic hospital system will announce this morning its break from church
Ali Safi: U.S. envoy gives Taliban terms for peace talks
January 19, 2012
January 18, 2012
January 17, 2012
Frank J. Gaffney Jr.: No-kidding red lines: U.S. response to an Iranian nuke may be bluster, but Israel's won't be
David G. Savage: They sued their principals after slandering them online --- now the cases are headed to the Supreme Court
David Francis: Where to Invest in 2012: With stocks expected to rebound, opportunity abounds for investors
January 13, 2012
Ben Lynfield: Israeli lawmakers move to annex Jewish Judea, one museum at a time
Alexia Elejalde-Ruiz: Thriving through touch: Gentle massage helps older people with low mobility improve in mind and body
January 12, 2012
Warren Richey: Landmark Supreme Court ruling a 'resounding win' for religious groups
Warren Richey: Supreme Court says no to new rule on eyewitness testimony
John Fauber : Statins found to raise diabetes risk in postmenopausal women
Katy Hopkins : Consider This Before You Pay for an Online Degree
The Kosher Gourmet by Joseph Erdos: This mushroom and barley soup has an intense -- almost nutty -- flavor that mixes robust with Middle East. It has creaminess without cream
January 11, 2012
Shari Roan: Millions of atrial fibrillation sufferers at risk for devastating, but preventable, stroke
Tom Hussain: Pakistan -- recipient of more than $21 billion in civilian and military aid -- speeds pursuit of Iranian pipeline, defying US
David G. Savage: High court signals it won't be loosening TV's 'indecency' rules
Stephen Ceasar: Oklahoma's Islamic law amendment can't go into effect, court rules
January 10, 2012
Reza Kahlili: From an ex-CIA spy: US must exploit new split in Iran's Revolutionary Guard
Karen Kaplan: Study: Nicotine replacement products ineffective when used in real-life situations
January 9, 2012
Michael Doyle: Put through legal hell over dream home, couple fought back hard --- all the way to Supreme Court
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Jewish World Review
May 2, 2007
/ 14 Iyar 5767
The primary experiment
By
Mort Zuckerman
http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
We are already well into one of the most wide-open presidential races in history, even though it's still 19 months before the big day in 2008. This will be the first time in 80 years without an incumbent president or vice president in the primaries. But an even more critical uncertainty is the new primary calendar. It imposes a major change in our democracy that many consider reckless.
In the cycle of primaries we got used to, both Republican and Democratic candidates were effectively chosen by the end of Super Tuesday in March. Voters in states with late primaries felt they had been given short shrift. So last year, the Democrats moved two voting days-those for Nevada and South Carolina-up near the front of the line and then decreed that no other state could hold a primary before February 5.
The Republicans did the same. Hence the stampede to get to the front of the line. To date, at least 22 states have moved their primary to the first allowable date on the calendar, February 5, including nine of the big states such as California, Florida, New York, New Jersey, and Illinois, representing over 60 percent of Americans.
The resulting megaprimary is the opposite of the small-town-style politics characteristic of Iowa and New Hampshire. February 5 will now become Super-Duper-or Mega-Tuesday. An overall winner would most likely have a stranglehold on the nomination.
Seismic shift. What does this mean for our democracy? Nobody knows. What we do know is that this is virtually an informal constitutional amendment. To have a prayer of winning Super-Duper Tuesday, candidates are going to need full-fledged national operations cranking away by this fall. The window of opportunity for late-starting insurgents has all but closed. It will be impossible for any individual to campaign before 130 million-plus people in the one week between the South Carolina primary and Mega Tuesday. Since they can't communicate their qualifications, character, and policies to millions of people in widely scattered states, their campaigns will need more big money for the 30-second commercials that will have to substitute for handshaking and question answering. Voters will get carefully managed themes but much less in the way of policy solutions or even personality. A dark horse, even with a solid showing in one of the earlier contests, cannot prevail without an overwhelming amount of money and charisma to appeal to people in 22 states.
The voters in the big states and the whims of the big fundraisers look as if they will dominate this new process. Certainly, the old system of partial public financing, with its spending controls, is now obsolete-and so, too, is the chance for voters to see the candidates' character and endurance tested over a long period, in different states, and in different circumstances.
This does not mean the outcomes in Iowa and New Hampshire are unimportant. They will still provide momentum, even to dark horses. But the megaprimary has made it harder for all but the top-tier contenders to gain enough political oxygen and money to be competitive.
If perchance no decisive result emerges from February 5, the states voting later could become the new kingmakers. Further, a fragmented result on February 5 and thereafter could even lead to a brokered convention in the summer-back to the smoke-filled rooms of the '20s!
Many believe this new system is political madness. The National Association of Secretaries of State, whose members oversee elections, has proposed that Iowa and New Hampshire go first, followed by four regional primaries every month, from March through June, with the regions to rotate their positions every four years. The purpose is to spread the primaries out and give the people a longer chance to review the candidates and to avoid the boredom of a candidate being selected nine months before the election.
The opposite view is that the megaprimary means that the candidates would be tested by much broader electorates in the major states, with their higher ratios of urban, diversified voters more representative of the country at large than, say, Iowa or New Hampshire. A man of little experience and talent, such as Jimmy Carter, would no longer emerge as his party's nominee because of success in the January Iowa primary. Again, in 2004, John Kerry effectively won the nomination with his victory over Howard Dean. And we are set to avoid the effect of the February New Hampshire primary of 2000, which ended the campaign between Al Gore and Bill Bradley, and the South Carolina primary, which ended the battle between George W. Bush and John McCain.
Everything is up in the air. The only thing that can be said for sure is that nobody can safely predict how the new process will affect the outcome.
Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in in the media and Washington consider "must-reading". Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.
JWR contributor Mort Zuckerman is editor-in-chief and publisher of U.S. News and World Report. Send your comments to him by clicking here.
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© 2005, Mortimer Zuckerman
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