Originally posted by Omaha 680
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When I heard about the superdelegates in the democratic nomination process, I thought that was crazy. But then I also read someone's opinion that the republican process is also messed up:
Today's nominating process doesn't just weaken the GOP candidate before he faces off against the Democrats: It also fails to produce consensus within the Republican Party itself. Whereas under the old convention system delegates were required to reach a consensus choice — no matter how long it took — today's system is mostly a test of survival. Candidates now do not need to cobble together a majority of the Republican electorate so much as they need to mobilize a sufficiently large minority of it and then wait for the other candidates to fold as the media declares that their campaigns are doomed.
Worse, the scope of citizen participation in this charade is exceedingly narrow, despite the fact that the process has nominally been expanded in many states to include voters (such as registered independents) who are not affiliated with the party. The reason is that the winnowing process regularly cuts the number of viable candidates down to only one halfway through the nomination contest, if not far earlier. For example, in 2012, the Republican nomination battle effectively ended with the Wisconsin primary on April 3, even though Mitt Romney won less than half the vote there. States whose contests were held afterward — including Texas, California, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania — did not have competitive primaries and thus had no real say in the selection of the nominee...
Finally, there is the rise of a group euphemistically known as "low-information voters." As more states (24 of them by 2012) have allowed "open" or "semi-closed" primaries — in which a voter need not even be a registered Republican to participate — the party's nominee-selection process has grown increasingly disconnected from the priorities of its members and voters. This has had a significant effect on the process, as the winning candidate often claims victory not so much because he has articulated the values and interests he shares with the whole party, but because his advertisements managed to sway the late-deciding, quasi-independent voters who have little stake in the outcome.
Worse, the scope of citizen participation in this charade is exceedingly narrow, despite the fact that the process has nominally been expanded in many states to include voters (such as registered independents) who are not affiliated with the party. The reason is that the winnowing process regularly cuts the number of viable candidates down to only one halfway through the nomination contest, if not far earlier. For example, in 2012, the Republican nomination battle effectively ended with the Wisconsin primary on April 3, even though Mitt Romney won less than half the vote there. States whose contests were held afterward — including Texas, California, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania — did not have competitive primaries and thus had no real say in the selection of the nominee...
Finally, there is the rise of a group euphemistically known as "low-information voters." As more states (24 of them by 2012) have allowed "open" or "semi-closed" primaries — in which a voter need not even be a registered Republican to participate — the party's nominee-selection process has grown increasingly disconnected from the priorities of its members and voters. This has had a significant effect on the process, as the winning candidate often claims victory not so much because he has articulated the values and interests he shares with the whole party, but because his advertisements managed to sway the late-deciding, quasi-independent voters who have little stake in the outcome.

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