Texas News

TAB's Daily Message for Oct. 19, National Primary

This is an interesting idea.  What do you think? 

Bill Hammond
CEO

http://www.expressnews.com/opinion/commentary/article/Time-for-a-national-primary-election-9981858.php

Time for a national primary election
Lyle Larson, For the Express-News October 18, 2016

Speaking before a local civic group recently, I posed the following questions: How many of you are tired of the presidential election? If you could, would you choose to vote right now, ending all the discussion, political ads and cable news coverage?

Hands shot up in the air. Every person in the room was ready for the circus that is the 2016 presidential election to end.

Let’s examine where we are today and how we got here. In 1968, when the concept of holding national party primary elections was conceived, life was much different for the average voter. The Beatles’ new song “Hey Jude” topped musical charts, there were only three television channels broadcasting the news, and the Internet did not exist.

In today’s world, where the 24-hour news cycle reigns, anyone with a smartphone and a Twitter account can be a journalist, and talking heads fill the airwaves, it makes little sense to continue the presidential primary process we adopted four decades ago. 

In the information age, it is no longer necessary to undergo an elongated presidential primary process. Both the national Republican and Democrat parties encourage over-scrimmaging at their own peril. They throw a slew of candidates into the gauntlet, allow the world to watch as they mercilessly rip each other to shreds, then present the bloodied and battered winner to fight in the final round — the general election — after their stature has been decimated. Elongated primaries serve only to encourage the devolution of policy discussions into mudslinging, fatigue the electorate, and tarnish our country’s image in the world. Yearlong national party primaries are a bad 1960’s legacy that need to be retired.

Imagine if American voters had been able to choose among all 17 Republicans and six Democrats who sought to become the 45th president of the United States. Instead, the majority of the country was forced to wait until after the first three primary elections, held in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina, greatly narrowed the field, culling many of our first, second and even third choices. It would be fair to assume there would have been a much different outcome. Instead, we are left with two of the most unfavorable candidates in the past three decades (as evidenced by recent polls), whom only 9 percent of Americans elected.

So how do we fix this mess?

First, we must wrest control of the presidential primary election process from the Republican National Committee and Democratic National Committee. Then, we should institute a National Primary Date in which the entire country casts its vote in a primary that includes all candidates representing all parties on the same day. Include all qualified candidates in a primary election held the first Tuesday in April.

Additionally, we should follow our neighbors, Mexico and Canada, and limit the length of presidential campaigns, preferably to 90 days, which is ample time for the candidates to share their vision and describe how they would move our country forward.

Are you in? If so, raise your proverbial hand and contact your elected officials to let them know it’s time for a change!

Rep. Lyle Larson, R-San Antonio, represents Texas House District 122.