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California should be among the first primary states (Original Post) TheSocialDem Apr 2016 OP
Of course it should. Maedhros Apr 2016 #1
Be careful... CrowCityDem Apr 2016 #2
+1 La Lioness Priyanka Apr 2016 #6
Yes. At least one early state should be large and diverse or at the very least, diverse. Maru Kitteh Apr 2016 #14
I agree. zappaman Apr 2016 #3
I live in California, and I disagree Dems to Win Apr 2016 #4
if we change the currupt campaign finance system TheSocialDem Apr 2016 #11
I also am from California, and agree with you. In addition, I have no problem having us last in the still_one Apr 2016 #26
That would virtually guarantee that the candidate with the most sufrommich Apr 2016 #5
If it had been held early this year in CA, MineralMan Apr 2016 #7
I agree!! SalviaBlue Apr 2016 #8
Join the party, become a delegate and WhiteTara Apr 2016 #9
I totally disagree. LWolf Apr 2016 #10
letting the old confederacy determine the momentum for the entire race TheSocialDem Apr 2016 #13
"The Old Confederacy" LWolf Apr 2016 #15
do you think momentum is non influential? nt TheSocialDem Apr 2016 #18
Too influential. LWolf Apr 2016 #20
Weren't Bernie supporters trumpeting "7 out of the last 8" not so long ago? Nye Bevan Apr 2016 #24
^^And this is one of the key reasons why he lost. "Black votes don't matter" was a TERRIBLE Maru Kitteh Apr 2016 #21
it was more like votes in red states dont carry as much weight.. TheSocialDem Apr 2016 #25
You mean red states like Nebraska, Wyoming, Utah and Idaho are not important? Maru Kitteh Apr 2016 #31
So Brock lie worked on you. Gwhittey Apr 2016 #40
There it is...nt SidDithers Apr 2016 #29
Sanders would have just lost earlier KingFlorez Apr 2016 #12
Sanders would have lost on day one. It would have been over right there. nt. NCTraveler Apr 2016 #16
So you don't want a candidate like Sanders to be successful? brooklynite Apr 2016 #17
Sanders has been very well funded actaully. You just made an OP about him spending on TV Bluenorthwest Apr 2016 #36
Why? So much of the country is already ignored and dominated by CA and NY. NT Adrahil Apr 2016 #19
California was part of Super Tuesday for a couple of election cycles .. then they moved back to June SFnomad Apr 2016 #22
Don't delegates won late in the process count the same as delegates won early? Nye Bevan Apr 2016 #23
I think the best system would use a lottery to choose the states so they change every election. Agnosticsherbet Apr 2016 #27
i kinda like this idea TheSocialDem Apr 2016 #28
I do think the... JSup Apr 2016 #38
I would rather see all states put into a tumbler and drawn out at random but your idea would not be Agnosticsherbet Apr 2016 #39
While I dream of my vote mattering... Fresh_Start Apr 2016 #30
yes i agree, i said among the first but i'd change that to TheSocialDem Apr 2016 #32
It is so large that you would need A LOT of money to compete. Skwmom Apr 2016 #33
How about this? ContinentalOp Apr 2016 #34
In '08 CA voted on Super Tuesday, then they moved it back again... Bluenorthwest Apr 2016 #35
It should be Same Day Primary, I think June would be fine just before the conventions 2banon Apr 2016 #37
 

Maedhros

(10,007 posts)
1. Of course it should.
Thu Apr 28, 2016, 01:32 PM
Apr 2016

But the Democratic Party is not interested in what it's rank-and-file thinks. They are there to rubber-stamp the choices of the Party leaders, not to muddy the waters with their meddlesome wants and needs.

 

CrowCityDem

(2,348 posts)
2. Be careful...
Thu Apr 28, 2016, 01:37 PM
Apr 2016

if California had gone first, and Bernie was still fighting just to be known, the likely large victory Hillary would have had would mean there would be even fewer delegates left to pin minor hopes on.

But more to the point, yes, we have reached the point where it makes no sense to let two of the whitest states in the country drive the entire narrative for the six months leading up to the first votes being cast. More diverse states should go first, so we can quickly eliminate the candidates with extremely limited demographic support.

Maru Kitteh

(28,303 posts)
14. Yes. At least one early state should be large and diverse or at the very least, diverse.
Thu Apr 28, 2016, 02:00 PM
Apr 2016

The demographics of the early states are stupidly skewed and poorly representative.

 

Dems to Win

(2,161 posts)
4. I live in California, and I disagree
Thu Apr 28, 2016, 01:39 PM
Apr 2016

It costs a LOT of money to be a viable statewide candidate in California. A dozen major media markets to buy ads is the major expense.

No one could compete in California without lots of money and lots of media exposure. No possibility of a surprise win by doing a couple hundred town halls, as is possible in Iowa or New Hampshire.

Putting CA at the beginning of the schedule would mean the 'money primary' would be completely decisive. No thanks.

TheSocialDem

(191 posts)
11. if we change the currupt campaign finance system
Thu Apr 28, 2016, 01:55 PM
Apr 2016

Hillary would have had to raise money from voters on her ideas rather than from super pacs and corporate lobbyists for her loyalty.

it pretty obvious who has won in this regard..

still_one

(91,950 posts)
26. I also am from California, and agree with you. In addition, I have no problem having us last in the
Thu Apr 28, 2016, 02:22 PM
Apr 2016

primary circuit It allows us to get a good look at the candidates

MineralMan

(146,192 posts)
7. If it had been held early this year in CA,
Thu Apr 28, 2016, 01:44 PM
Apr 2016

The results would have been something like Clinton 75% - Sanders 25%. Sanders needed time to build an organization and figure out how to run. He'd have been out after the first primary.

WhiteTara

(29,676 posts)
9. Join the party, become a delegate and
Thu Apr 28, 2016, 01:51 PM
Apr 2016

propose that. Each state chooses their primary dates and things can be proposed at the convention. It takes work, but it can be done.

LWolf

(46,179 posts)
10. I totally disagree.
Thu Apr 28, 2016, 01:53 PM
Apr 2016

All 50 states need to be live.

Voters in all 50 states need to have an equal voice.

When a primary is done before some states get to weigh in, it disenfranchises millions of Democrats.

To avoid that, the larger states should go last.

In my opinion. Of course, I'm more about the small (d) democratic process than I am about the big (D) manipulation of that process.

LWolf

(46,179 posts)
15. "The Old Confederacy"
Thu Apr 28, 2016, 02:01 PM
Apr 2016

determines the momentum when everybody's voice is heard?

That makes no sense.

LWolf

(46,179 posts)
20. Too influential.
Thu Apr 28, 2016, 02:07 PM
Apr 2016

Nobody's vote should be influenced by those previous.

If it weren't a hardship on the candidates and their campaigns, I'd rather see every primary happen on a single day across the nation, so that we get clean results and an equal voice.

That's why I want larger states to go last. They have more delegates. When they go last, "momentum" doesn't dominate.

Do YOU think my state, or any state, should be marginalized and disenfranchised because of that "momentum?"

Nye Bevan

(25,406 posts)
24. Weren't Bernie supporters trumpeting "7 out of the last 8" not so long ago?
Thu Apr 28, 2016, 02:15 PM
Apr 2016

What happened to that momentum?

Maru Kitteh

(28,303 posts)
21. ^^And this is one of the key reasons why he lost. "Black votes don't matter" was a TERRIBLE
Thu Apr 28, 2016, 02:08 PM
Apr 2016

campaign message.

I blame his surrogates and managers. I don't believe for a second SBS would have taken this tack on his own.

TheSocialDem

(191 posts)
25. it was more like votes in red states dont carry as much weight..
Thu Apr 28, 2016, 02:17 PM
Apr 2016

the reasons are obvious. Hillary won big in many states that will go red in November.. and then the narrative became Bernie doesn't appeal to black voters for the rest of the campaign.

Maru Kitteh

(28,303 posts)
31. You mean red states like Nebraska, Wyoming, Utah and Idaho are not important?
Thu Apr 28, 2016, 02:36 PM
Apr 2016

Like that?

So do the Blue states matter? Which ones?

 

Gwhittey

(1,377 posts)
40. So Brock lie worked on you.
Thu Apr 28, 2016, 05:09 PM
Apr 2016

Money well spent. Sanders never said that Black votes do not matter. But keep thinking the lies. Where you alive in Nixon times and believed he was not a crock too? Did you believe Bush about Iraq having Nukes?

brooklynite

(93,851 posts)
17. So you don't want a candidate like Sanders to be successful?
Thu Apr 28, 2016, 02:02 PM
Apr 2016

California is too big for retail politics; it's dependent on television advertising. Moving California to the front of the pack means you won't have the opportunity for less-well funded candidates to show they have a campaign message that resonates.

 

Bluenorthwest

(45,319 posts)
36. Sanders has been very well funded actaully. You just made an OP about him spending on TV
Thu Apr 28, 2016, 03:03 PM
Apr 2016

in CA while Clinton you claim is not going to run any ads at all. Can you pick on narrative of attack and stick to it?

 

SFnomad

(3,473 posts)
22. California was part of Super Tuesday for a couple of election cycles .. then they moved back to June
Thu Apr 28, 2016, 02:09 PM
Apr 2016

You'd have to ask the legislators why they did that.

Nye Bevan

(25,406 posts)
23. Don't delegates won late in the process count the same as delegates won early?
Thu Apr 28, 2016, 02:13 PM
Apr 2016

How does going earlier give a state more influence?

Agnosticsherbet

(11,619 posts)
27. I think the best system would use a lottery to choose the states so they change every election.
Thu Apr 28, 2016, 02:23 PM
Apr 2016

Caucuses should be abolished.
And the nominee chosen by popular vote.

JSup

(740 posts)
38. I do think the...
Thu Apr 28, 2016, 03:39 PM
Apr 2016

...proposed lottery should probably be based on regions, though, ie. One state from (contiguous) Pacific, one from Mountain, one from Plains, once from South, one from Atlantic, one from New England, one from Rust Belt.

Agnosticsherbet

(11,619 posts)
39. I would rather see all states put into a tumbler and drawn out at random but your idea would not be
Thu Apr 28, 2016, 04:43 PM
Apr 2016

bad

Fresh_Start

(11,330 posts)
30. While I dream of my vote mattering...
Thu Apr 28, 2016, 02:30 PM
Apr 2016

I don't think it would be a good idea to be first...
but it also couldn't be so late

ContinentalOp

(5,356 posts)
34. How about this?
Thu Apr 28, 2016, 02:51 PM
Apr 2016

Each chunk of primaries that happen on the same day should represent a roughly equal population. So tiny states like Iowa and New Hampshire should be grouped in with other states rather than getting special attention. And large states like California and New York should go on their own to give the candidates more time to reach the voters there.

So California goes alone, to represent 39 million people.
Texas and Illinois go together, representing another 39 million people.
Florida + NY = 39 mil
etc.
and then Puerto Rico, Iowa, Utah, Mississippi, Arkansas, Kansas, Nevada, New Mexico, Nebraska, West Virginia, Idaho, Hawaii, New Hampshire, Maine, Rhode Island, Montana, Delaware, South Dakota, North Dakota, Alaska, DC, Vermont and Wyoming all have to go on the same day.

 

Bluenorthwest

(45,319 posts)
35. In '08 CA voted on Super Tuesday, then they moved it back again...
Thu Apr 28, 2016, 02:57 PM
Apr 2016

The problem is this- the order that lends more influence is not really predictable in advance of the contests. Earlier is not always better. Later is not always better.

 

2banon

(7,321 posts)
37. It should be Same Day Primary, I think June would be fine just before the conventions
Thu Apr 28, 2016, 03:04 PM
Apr 2016

and all primaries, no caucuses. I also think the voting requirements, rules and regs and procedures need to be nationalized.

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