In what has become somewhat of a tradition, one of the political parties is taking early aim at changing the presidential selection process.
This year, it’s the Democrats with a noteworthy shakeup to the 2024 primary and caucus calendar. On Thursday, NBC News reported that the Democratic National Committee Rules and Bylaws Committee was planning to formally propose bumping Iowa from its first-in-the-nation spot and moving up Michigan, restructuring the longtime lineup of Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina.
What is striking, and may finally lead to their ouster, is how often the victors in these two states — especially on the Democratic side — have flopped later on in the selection process.
It seemed that New Hampshire would then take the top spot, but then President Joe Biden later in the day pushed for South Carolina to be No. 1. It’s an unsurprising request, considering the state gave him a lifeline for his 2020 presidential run. A DNC Rules and Bylaws Committee meeting, which begins Friday, is expected to be the first time the public officially hears the rescheduling plan, but a vote on the reshuffling wouldn’t be until early next year by the full DNC.
A change to which states get first dibs in the primary is long overdue, and there are several reasons why Iowa and New Hampshire may deserve to be on the chopping block.
The first glaring problem is that Iowa and New Hampshire are among the least diverse states in the country, and in a time when most Americans live in either an urban or suburban setting, they are among the most rural.
However, the reality is that these two factors in and of themselves may not be enough of a reason to attack the states’ leadership position. What is striking, and may finally lead to their ouster, is how often the victors in these two states — especially on the Democratic side — have flopped later on in the selection process.
Of course, no one likes to be booted from the top spot, but though these two states seem to base their roles on history and lore, the actual record shows a very different picture. Florida was the first state to adopt a primary for presidential nominees, in 1904, and neither Iowa nor New Hampshire was a part of the first epic presidential primary battle in 1912, when William Howard Taft and Theodore Roosevelt fought for the Republican presidential nomination.
New Hampshire’s primary first gained widespread exposure in 1952 and really became noteworthy in 1968 when
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