Should Nevada and South Carolina be the First Two States?

[MarkD]

I think every state should be prohibited from holding primaries or caucuses before April 1.

Then allow New Hampshire to have its primary on the first Tuesday in April.

Other states with only 3 or 4 electoral college votes may hold them on dates later in April: Alaska, Delaware, District of Columbia, Hawaii, Idaho, Maine, Montana, North Dakota, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Vermont, West Virginia, Wyoming. (These states can still hold them even later if they choose.)

Then allow all medium-sized states, with 5 to 11 electoral college votes, to hold them on dates in May: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, Wisconsin. (These states may also wait until June if they choose.)

Make all of the largest states wait until June to hold primaries or caucuses: California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia, Washington.

This schedule will allow "retail politics" to still matter early in the campaign season (which can start later) and the "dark horse" candidates won't have to focus on raising lots of money early on. The nomination won't be "settled" as early in the year as it is these days.

[MarkD]

No.

We should adopt a constitutional amendment that creates a schedule for when states can hold presidential primaries.

Prohibit any state from holding a presidential primary or caucus before April 1.

Allow the smallest states, which have just 3 or 4 electoral college votes, to hold primaries in April. This would mean Alaska, Delaware, District of Columbia, Hawaii, Idaho, Maine, Montana, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Vermont, West Virginia, and Wyoming could all choose a date in April for their primaries/caucuses. (The amendment would probably also stipulate that the New Hampshire law that says their state must be first in the nation would be void.)

Allow the medium-sized states, which have 5 to 11 electoral college votes, to hold primaries/caucuses in May. The states which could do so would be Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, and Wisconsin. These states could choose any date in May for when to hold their primares or caucuses.

Make all of the largest states wait until June to hold their primaries or caucuses. That would include Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia, and Washington. Again, these states could choose any date in June. The majority of delegates to the national conventions would not be selected until June.

With our current system, the nominations are usually already assured by March, and we have to wait an agonizing amount of time until the conventions are held.

[MarkD]

No.

We should adopt a constitutional amendment that creates a schedule for when states can hold presidential primaries.

No, because how a party selects its nominee shouldn't be in the constitution and should have more democratic input.

We get "democratic input" when we ask the states to ratify this proposal.