The Extended Primary: Against Conventional Wisdom March 9, 2008
Posted by justingerman in 2008 Presidential Election, The Democratic Party.Tags: 2008 Presidential Election, Barack Obama, Democratic Primary, Hillary Clinton, John Kerry, John McCain, Republican Party
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The trendy line of thought in electoral politics is that campaigns have to define themselves and their opponents early or risk the possibility of their opponent creating the definitions for them. This idea springs mostly from John Kerry’s disasterous Spring in 2004 when the Bush campaign stuck the soft on defense and flip-flopper labels to his candidacy that he was forced to carry throughout the campaign.
The fear is that like John Kerry, Obama and Hillary will be silent in the face of Republican attacks. However, Spring 2008 could be even worse than 2004 because the candidates will be attacking each other as well as fielding attacks from Republicans. However, I feel like there are several reasons as to why 2008 is not like 2004 that could allow the Democratic nominee to benefit from an extended primary. (more…)
Texas Politics: It’s A Bit Wacky March 2, 2008
Posted by justingerman in 2008 Presidential Election, The Democratic Party.Tags: Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, John Kerry, Presidential Primaries, Texas Primary
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In the presidential primary process there are lots of different ways that the respective states’ delegates are chosen to the national convention. Some states use caucuses and others primaries. Sometimes the votes are apportioned by the vote in each congressional district and sometimes they are based the proportion of the entire state. Texas’ primary/caucus, however, is just utterly strange and will likely affect the final outcome of the state’s vote.
