Iowa Doesn't Speak For Me

Short blog for you today. In this political season we have a HUGE problem and I have the easy solution. The problem is the way we go about electing our President. Right now we have individual states deciding when to hold their own primaries. There are many problems with this, but the main problem is that essentially we have the people of Iowa and New Hampshire deciding which 2-3 candidates from each party get to move on. Why do they get to decide that?

Here is why....the media. The media has somehow romanticized the Iowa caucus and the New Hampshire primary. They paint it as some grand historical event that somehow makes American politics great, but they are wrong. Lets say you live in Oklahoma and wanted to vote for John Edwards or Rudy Giuliani...you couldn't. Well I guess you could have, but it wouldn't have mattered. So here is the big question. Why have a system where you don't get to put your support behind someone because of where you live? The issues that the people in Iowa are voting on might be different than those of people in New York or Alaska or Oklahoma.

The solution is obvious....a national primary day or primary weekend. Put it in early February and you can cut down on the incredible costs associated with being a candidate. It would still be expensive, but imagine how much money these people could save on commercials, transportation, staffing, print advertising, etc. I think you would also need some regulation on when someone could start campaigning so we don't have people starting even earlier in advance of this early national primary. I think this would level the playing field and allow everyone to support the candidate of their choice.

Lastly, it would force people who already hold office to do the job they were elected to do. The people of New York and Illinois each have one senator who is not currently doing the job they were elected to do. Obama and Clinton should both step aside if they aren't going to represent the people that elected them. They were elected to serve, not to run for other offices.