Presidential Primaries – A Primer
A President Cruz and a Vice President Clinton?
Air Dates: January 23 & 24, 2016 | Greg Leo
With so many candidates running in the Republican primary there have been discussions within the media that there won’t be one candidate who wins enough electoral votes for a clear majority, which would trigger a “brokered convention.” Right away supporters of various candidates, and some candidates themselves, were saying this was a set up and that their candidate would be disenfranchised from a fair selection if the process was turned over to “political insiders” or the “establishment” to make the final choice. But what’s the reality?
And if you think politics is messy now, you won’t believe how they used to do it.
Caucus vs. Primary: Process and Differences
Also, we’re less than 10 days away from the Iowa Caucus, the true, official launch of the presidential primary. This week, we take a deeper look at the entire process of electing a president, the historical context, how the process has evolved, and we’ll examine the shadier side of political conventions in terms of what has happened and what could happen.
On this Week’s Show, You’ll Learn About:
- How our Founding Fathers originally conceived presidential election, and the uniqueness of our American system
- Why parties were created
- Why and when conventions and primaries began
- How the primary system works and how it has changed over the years
- The modern-day elements of a caucus versus a primary vote and whether a “ground game” is as important as pundits claim
- What exactly is a “brokered convention” and the chances of one happening in 2016
And if you don’t think your vote doesn’t matter just remember the highest turn out in a general election, ever, was just 63% of the voting age population. Even more alarming the average voter turnout for a primary has recently averaged about 22%.
Find out how to make your vote count — and why it could matter, even if your candidate doesn’t win.
Links
- More information on primary vs caucus states
- Fox News article & video that breaks down the Iowa Caucus, including the importance of a good ground game
- Good article on the Party System via wikipedia
- Presidential election results, 1789 – 2008
- Five things you may not know about political conventions
3 Replies to “Presidential Primaries – A Primer”
Thanks for having me on the show! We should know the Republican Nominee by March 15th with the results of the Ohio and Florida Primaries. Anyone want to make a prediction?
Right now, looks like Trump could run the tables. He’s pretty much an unstoppable force and the Cruz followers are starting to marginalize themselves, the Paulbots of 2016. Can’t say anything against Cruz, point out his lack of senate accomplishments (like 1 bill has his name on it) or lack of realworld accomplishments and they act like you’ve committed blasphemy. They say they want an outsider but he’s done nothing outside of politics. That won’t win this election cycle.
Cruz will take first in Iowa. Finish a distant third in NH. Finish a solid second place in every state there after.