Washblog || Washington needs to hold a Presidential Primary

Washington needs to hold a Presidential Primary

By gibney
Mon Apr 09, 2007 at 01:34:31 AM PST
Section: Diary Topic: Presidential Caucus and Primary

The voters should have a chance to express their preferences. I personally would like to avoid the melee on February 5th and make a separate stand on the 12th or the 19th. But, realistically, February 5th is shaping up to be a "winner take all" national primary and we should be part of it.

But, Washington's primary law does not provide a mechanism for determining the individual delegates to the National Conventions. The caucus process, Precinct, Legislative District/County and Congressional District and finally the State Party Convention(s) are still needed to determine who we send to Denver.

The parties could or may chose to apportion national delegates according to the results of the Presidential Primary. I don't think that we (Democrats) should for the 2008 cycle. I think we should use the primary to increase and leverage grassroots participation.

The Presidential Primary law Chapter 29A.56 RCW requires the Secretary of State (SoS) to provide the major parties (yes, the opposition can do this also) data on which voters selected which party or independent ballot (Note, this is different from the normal fall primary).

This data, combined with caucus locations, would allow a directed mailing to the already interested voters [2]. This mailing would be a specific invitation to attend and participate in the caucus for their precinct and give the time and location.

These are the people needed to expand and increase participation. They are also the people who should be considered for delegates to the convention in Denver.

I propose:
The Presidential Primary be moved from May 27th to February 5th;
The precinct caucuses be held on April 5th [1]; [2]
The LD caucuses occur on April 19
The County Conventions on April 26 (of course King County is special and can pick a different date)
This allows plenty of time to hold CD caucuses on May 17
And culminate with the State Convention in Spokane on June 7th

[1] An appealing side effect of this date is that Washington would be allocated an additional 8 delegates under DNC rules.
[2] The deadline for the SoS to provide the data would be March 16 which allows three weeks to produce and mail the targeted invitations

Disclamers: One, I currently am just a PCO and no longer a member of the State Committee.
Two, there are other aspects of the Delegate Selection Plan (DSAAP) that I find lacking and hope to address via other venues and/or potential public postings or resolutions to the rules committee.

< Law & Order, South Bend, Mexico, Patience and Extradition | WSDCC Delegate Selection Plan - public comment #2 - killing the precinct 15% rule >

Poll

Votes: 35
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Washington needs to hold a Presidential Primary | 16 comments (16 topical)

I think we should move the Caucus date back

I agree with Dave that we should move the Caucus back. Moving the Primary forward has some benefits and it seems worthwhile from Dave's arguments.

I'm hoping we get an amendment to move the caucus dates back and get those changes made at the April meeting.

by Nathan Horter on Mon Apr 09, 2007 at 09:20:04 PM PST

* 1 none 0 *

On your Arrow of Time ... by RonK Seattle, 04/10/2007 08:49:46 AM PST (none / 0)

Well, in this case by gibney, 04/10/2007 09:23:57 AM PST (none / 0)
my question too by N in Seattle, 04/10/2007 11:14:30 AM PST (none / 0)

if I ruled the world...

I'd make virtually all primaries and caucuses much later in the year.

Let Iowa and New Hampshire do their thing, then take a significant break before getting down to the real business of choosing the candidates. Without the pressure from the rest of the states, IA and NH could do their work in a reasonable timeframe, say, late February or early March. In 1968, when Gene McCarthy scared LBJ into dropping his re-election bid, the New Hampshire primary was on March 12.

Then we could start the actual primary season. Divide the country into four regions, with all states in that region eligible to hold primaries on a specified date. Randomly order the sequence of regional primaries, then hold them every three weeks, starting in April and running through June.

It's utterly absurd, and deeply injurious to civic involvement and appreciation for the value of government, to determine the candidates in the first week of February and then wait nine f##king months before choosing between them. That's nine f##king months of swiftboating and attack ads and mealy-mouthed repetition of pablum and pointless "punditry".

No wonder our populace finds politics boring and dirty and unseemly.

You're only young once, but you can be immature forever -- Larry Andersen
Blogging at Peace Tree Farm

by N in Seattle on Tue Apr 10, 2007 at 11:30:17 AM PST

* 5 none 0 *

Well, yahbutt what about by gibney, 04/10/2007 01:30:00 PM PST (none / 0)

like minds... <n/t> by N in Seattle, 04/10/2007 01:57:45 PM PST (none / 0)

double talk

I've been thinking about this a lot lately. Actually, it will probably turn into a blog post at some point, but the point of both suing to remove the top two primary and trying to get a closed and listed primary and ignoring the presidential primary in favor of caucuses seems obvious to me. Its not about Party building or being inclusive. If we were really interested in party building, we would do more community type events and be way more engaged locally. If we were interested in being inclusive we'd have a primary.

But, holding caucuses allows you to data colllect, have people write down their names and contact information, and so you build your mailing list. Caucuses are party building in that a list of names and data points are a political party.

________________
I blog here.

by emmettoconnell on Tue Apr 10, 2007 at 01:58:53 PM PST

* 8 none 0 *

The real Decision is on the 28th by gibney, 04/10/2007 07:38:18 PM PST (none / 0)

Changes to DSAAP for my idea. Whereas' later

Section III.A.2.a-d lines 13-30
2. District-level delegates and alternates shall be elected by the following Precinct Caucus System:
a. The first tier precinct caucuses will be held on ((~~Saturday, February 9, 2008~~)) Saturday, April 5, 2008. Delegates are elected to the legislative district (LD) caucuses and county conventions. The size of each LD delegation is determined by a formula giving equal weight to the number of active registered voters in each LD and an average of the Democratic presidential and gubernatorial vote in the 2004 general election. Resolutions on issues are forwarded for consideration at the appropriate County Convention.
b. The second tier LD caucuses are on ((~~Saturday, April 5, 2008~~)) Saturday, April 19, 2008. Delegates to the congressional district (CD) caucuses are elected.
c. County conventions will be held on ((~~Saturday, April 19, 2008~~)) Saturday, April 26, 2008. County platforms are adopted and resolutions are passed on issues of concern to the body.
d. The third tier CD caucuses are held on Saturday, May 17, 2008 - ((51)) 59 district level delegates and 9 alternates are elected at this level based upon the will of those delegates properly credentialed and registered at the meeting.

Section III.A.3.c Table at line 3
Increase the total delegation for CD 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, and 9 by one and adjust gender requirements as needed.

Section III.G.3 lines 34-35
Precinct caucuses throughout the state shall be held on ((~~Saturday, February 9, 2008~~)) Saturday, April 5, 2008, at 1:00 p.m.

Section III.H.2 lines 11-12
All scheduled county conventions shall be held on ((~~Saturday, April 19, 2008~~)) Saturday, April 26, 2008, commencing at 9:00 a.m.,

Section III.I.3 line 1
Legislative district caucuses shall be held on ((~~Saturday, April 5, 2008~~)) Saturday, April 19, 2008,

Section VII.C after line 21
New subsection 0. The party will produce and mail an invitation to each voter who chose a Democratic or Independent ballot at the Presidential Primary held prior to the caucus date. The invitation will include the specific location, date and time for the precinct caucus the voter is eligible and encouraged to attend.

Section IX.A lines 10-11
The "first determining step" of Washington State's delegate selection process will occur on ((~~Saturday, February 9, 2008~~)) Saturday, April 5, 2008, with a precinct caucus.

Dave Gibney Pullman

by gibney on Sun Apr 15, 2007 at 08:25:07 PM PST

* 10 none 0 *

interesting, but... by N in Seattle, 04/16/2007 10:05:45 AM PST (none / 0)

Well, the 7th already gets 2 more by gibney, 04/16/2007 11:47:40 AM PST (none / 0)

More info

Here

Dave Gibney Pullman

by gibney on Sun Apr 15, 2007 at 11:01:00 PM PST

* 11 none 0 *

Seems to me if the presidential nomination decision function is removed from the caucuses and transferred to the primary, then what distinguishes caucus attendance in a presidential year from caucus attendance in an off-year?

In other words, if you can't actually cast a vote for president at the caucus, then it'll be just like the off-years, where there's basically no point in coming unless you want to do platform/charter stuff, and thus the only people that come will be the hard-core folks. What am I missing?

by wrog on Tue Apr 17, 2007 at 01:34:28 AM PST

* 14 none 0 *

The April caucus is the first determining step by gibney, 04/17/2007 09:00:46 AM PST (none / 0)

Yes! Seperate Allocation from Delegate Selection

The whole country should vote on one day. Then we will know the candidate and people can focus on other party business.

Absent that, I like the orderly set of events listed.

If people sign the ballot....Ideally I'd like to have them stuck with the party they choose for the fall primary or have all primaries on the same day, but I 'spect the rest of you hate that.

by ktkeller on Sun Mar 09, 2008 at 04:21:31 PM PST

* 16 none 0 *

Washington needs to hold a Presidential Primary | 16 comments (16 topical)

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