NFL
By: Greg Rector
At long last, the Democratic Party is poised to change the order in which primaries are held to determine the Presidential nominee for the party. The stranglehold that two small predominately populated by white voters states of Iowa ( The Caucuses) and New Hampshire (First in the nation primary), days will come to an end at last under this new proposal released today. In so many past campaigns if you couldn’t win in those first two states you were almost certainly doomed to be the party’s nominee. Considering the demographic shortcomings of both Iowa (91% white) and New Hampshire (93% white) and the actual demographics of the country and the Democratic party in general this is welcome news indeed.
The Changes
Under the new plan, South Carolina the state that both lifted and rescued President Biden’s bid for the nomination in 2020 would become the first state to hold a primary in 2024. South Carolina is 67% white and 27% black. Of course, it was the influence of Rep. James Clyburn with the black voters in the “Palmetto State,” and their large turnout in that primary that made Biden’s run to the White House possible. Now South Carolina doesn’t have a large number of Latino voters but this plan will address that as well which I will get to shortly. As any Democrat knows though the party cannot succeed without the black vote and especially the votes of black women. The Iowa caucus will be done away with. As “democratic,” as the caucus can be it has drawbacks. The caucus process can be quite a time-consuming endeavor so older voters and young college voters both have complained it can exclude them because of those constraints. The 2020 caucuses in Iowa were also poorly run and those are reasons enough for me to see them disappear as an early part of the process. New Hampshire is screaming mad as they feel by some divine right they should vote first. Sorry folks in the “Granite State,” it’s never been that way. Simply it was a tradition and like many other traditions, its time has outlived its usefulness. New Hampshire and Nevada ( A Latino voter base state) would then follow South Carolina one week later. New Hampshire does a state statute that states New Hampshire must hold its primary seven days before any other state. So this will be the fight within the party. Personally, it’s a silly argument and as a national party, the Democratic Party does not need to be held hostage to the whims of New Hampshire. New Hampshire might not want to see the same punishment that both Michigan and Florida got in 2008 after both tried to move their primary dates without the consent of the Democratic party. The DNC refused to seat half of the delegates at the convention for each state.
Also being boosted up on the primary calendar would be the state of Michigan. Michigan again is a far more diverse midwestern state compared to Iowa. The other big state to move up would be the battleground state of Georgia which would have its primary on the same day as Michigan. Again the demographics of both states are quite diverse.
This is not a punishment of either Iowa or New Hampshire. It really is a recognition of the changing landscape of the Democratic Party that has been in place for a long time. I agree with these changes that have been proposed completely. The real base of the party will be reflected in these changes. Having been to three Democratic National conventions it will be nice to see the nominee who will have to truly run to the wants of the base of the party. Far too often special interests and big money have influenced the smaller states. The media has also greatly contributed to calling a nominee the presumptive front-runner or anointing a candidate for winning in the two states. This will put the power where it needs to be in the hands of real Democrats. We may just end up seeing the end of the days where anyone has coronated the Presidential nominee of the Democratic Party. Because of the states that would be voting early, there would be the possibility of a true battle for the soul of the party, something not seen very often in my lifetime. The candidates will have to campaign in more parts of the country as well. That’s a positive move in my opinion.
