Iowa and New Hampshire, two of the most unrepresentative states that could be picked, somehow set the tone. This primary system we have now actually continues to produce worse and worse candidates; we got better ones when the “party bosses” hashed it out in a “smoke-filled room.” And while I don’t advocate going back to that, we need to find a way to pick our candidates that doesn’t involve the kind of manipulation we see. It would start, of course, with a lot more than just super-partisans paying attention.
Iowa and New Hampshire, two of the most unrepresentative states that could be picked, somehow set the tone. This primary system we have now actually continues to produce worse and worse candidates; we got better ones when the “party bosses” hashed it out in a “smoke-filled room.” And while I don’t advocate going back to that, we need to find a way to pick our candidates that doesn’t involve the kind of manipulation we see. It would start, of course, with a lot more than just super-partisans paying attention.