What is a primary?
In contrast to a caucus, a primary is the other method for a party to arrive at who they would like to nominate for their party’s presidential nominee. Primaries in American politics are a relatively new thing, and as stated briefly before are a response to the fact that the caucus system became a corrupt power grab over time. In early America, the caucus method dominated everything about presidential elections, and it started with the selection of John Adams as the second president of the United States (The Green Papers).
But, that doesn’t mean everyone got to vote in the caucus, or vote for Thomas Jefferson. To start with, caucus elections were composed only of highly-connected, rich, white, land-owning men (An American Odyssey, pg. 218-220). Describing the average voter in those terms isn’t meant as an insult, or to make your modern white guy squirm. It’s just a fact. However, white guys who happen to glance back at history now and then typically do adjust in their seats when they are reminded of that fact. It’s generally accepted that pockets of white men who dominate government have historically not set well with the masses. And, to exclude people from voting by de facto rules, called disenfranchisement, really tends to get under people’s skin. Hence the birth of the modern primary system that began in the early 20th century.
In stark contrast to a caucus, a primary on the surface is pretty easy to understand. In short, it is an election by straight vote. While that definition sounds easy to understand, like all things in the political world, someone found a way to make things way more complicated. To unravel the snarl that is the American political system, it starts with understanding the definition of a primary, and then researching the stuff parties would rather you not know.
According to Merriam-Webster, a primary is defined as “a preliminary election to appoint delegates to a party conference or to select the candidates for a principal, especially presidential, election.” Votesmart.org defines it as “registered voters (participating) in choosing the candidate for the party's nomination by voting through secret ballot, as in a general election.”
According to the Council of Foreign Relations, “Prior to the 1970s, the majority of states chose their delegates using caucuses. But, after reforms were instituted in 1972 to make the nomination process more inclusive and transparent, most states adopted primaries.” At the time this research paper was written, no information on why some states kept the old caucus system was available.
The states that use the primary method are all of the states minus those listed as a caucus state earlier in this paper. After one answers the question ‘who is a primary state,’ the details regarding primaries only get murkier. Some primaries are open, and some are closed. Open means that anyone can vote in a primary without belonging to the political party. A closed primary is one where only registered members of the party are allowed to cast a ballot (CFR.org).
Confused yet? Let’s make it worse then.
The rules governing the outcome of these primary elections do not govern the presidential candidate directly. The outcome of a primary is not technically for a selection of a candidate like the news media represents it, but rather for how many delegates the candidate has won based on other rules the party sets. These delegates will then go vote on behalf of their countrymen for president.
As for how delegates are awarded, those rules vary by state as well. Some primaries result in a candidate winning all the delegates should they win by just one vote. These are called winner take all states. And, some primaries award delegates based on the percentage of votes a candidate received (Votersmart.org). These are proportional states (CFR.org).
Pretend that tonight is ‘voting night’ for the Republican and Democratic primary in Kendylvania. Since the state allows anyone to vote tonight, it is an open primary. The purpose of this night is to do a formal ‘poll’ paid for by taxpayers of who everyone would like to have for president. This poll will results in X number of ballots cast by Y number of voters for Z number of candidates.
Votes are cast for these candidates’ names. Ballots are then counted. But, despite the fact that the people are voting for the name of a president, they are really voting for how many delegates that particular presidential candidate will receive. The delegates then are the people who get to vote for president.
The state allows political parties to decide how delegates should be awarded to candidates. In the Kendylvania example, the political party awards delegates to a candidate proportionally. That means that if a candidate receives 21.4 percent of the vote he will receive that percentage of delegates. However, not all primaries work this way. Consider the state next door.
The state neighboring Kendylvania, Brentopia, is a closed primary and awards delegates winner take all. This means that only registered voters—people who sent in a card to the county office where they live—are allowed to vote because they registered with the party as either Republican or Democrat. People who are not registered as a Republican or Democrat will not be allowed to vote no matter how much they like that party’s candidate. Delegates in this winner take all state will be awarded to the person who gets the most number of votes.
Outside of those two important caveats and rules, there really isn’t much more to say about how a primary system in America works except one thing. That one thing has everything to do with one question: what is a delegate, and why does a candidate need one to be a legitimate contender for president?
Delegates: Evidence That ‘Crimary’ Is a Practical Term
Like Christmas, after the caucuses are held and the primaries are over, all that is left is the sweeping up of the trash, right? Not quite. The primaries and the caucuses were only useful ‘tools’ to give Joe Citizen the perceived feeling that he had a voice in who would be president. The real power of choosing the presidency all rests in the national convention of each of the parties held in the summer before the presidential election takes place. Who gets to go to this convention? This convention is by invitation only. The people in attendance will be the delegates selected by the political parties at the local level. And this is where it gets really complicated (Washington Post).
Delegates, because of the way the national political parties are set up, are people with votes that count exponentially more than one citizen vote. To get the right picture, imagine those people wearing wigs in pretty hose and in a smoky parlor except their pants are made by Levis and instead of smoking pipes they suck down Starbucks. To understand what happens in modern times, one must re-imagine the scene not as a smoky parlor, but rather as a high tech basketball arena whose image screams nationally across TV screens like the average voter was wanted there in the first place. You can choose your favorite feel good playlist to blast in the background.
And, as you see yourself partying in that basketball arena filled to capacity with shiny happy faces, try to see that they are all excited to stand under a sign that proudly heralds from where they are from. The stage in front of you has a sign overhead that says “The National Convention for Either the Democrat or Republican Party.” It doesn’t matter which one you choose to imagine. These national conventions both work about the same (CNN.com).
The delegates there got their e-ticket to this circus in one of several ways. The first way is that they were selected at the county level via election by their peers. Having said that, those elected usually had to be present to win their ticket. Therefore, anyone who had to work could not attend the election to win a convention seat. Another way is that they are part of the ‘establishment’ of the party. That is, they work so hard/effectively for their political party that they are basically given a voice because of who they are. Here is another way: they are a seriously rich person who could buy an election for himself just as easily as he could buy a donut.
And that information about delegates is the rub that everyone needs to be aware of and that no one seems to care about: these delegates are the same smoky backroom people that have always been doing the electing of other people to office. These delegates are the ones connected to at least someone at some level, or they would not have been invited to the party to begin with.
And how do these delegates get to vote? That is decided by rules as well that are controlled by the political parties at the state level. Therefore, to spell it out, the people who set the rules are typically also the people who get to cast the real ballot for presidential nominee. For some states, the delegates can go vote for whoever they want to! That is worth repeating. For some states, THE DELEGATES CAN GO VOTE FOR WHOMEVER THEY WANT TO VOTE FOR.
For example, according to Amy Latour of Bustle.com, “elite members of the Democratic party, such as members of the Democratic National Committee, former presidents, and current congresspeople, can support whomever they wish at the Convention, regardless of primary or caucus results.” She cites that about 85% of the people who go to the democratic convention are pledged delegates. She goes on to say that approximately 15% of delegates are not.
Doing the math, that means that the Democratic party ‘establishment’ has a 15% chance EXTRA of getting whomever they want for the president right off of the top. Joe Citizen does not have an equal say in who the president is because his vote counts 15% less than the idea of one man, one vote.
The Republican party uses a similar method, if not similar terminology. According to Latour, “The Republican party also has Congressional district delegates pledged to follow the results of the primaries or caucuses, as well as those who are pledged to show support for candidates based on statewide results. While the GOP doesn't have super-delegates, it does have a number of unbound delegates. All 168 Republican National Committee members are automatic delegates, and most of them are unbound. There are a total of 2,472 delegates on the Republican side, according to the official 2016 Republican Nomination Process document. A candidate needs more than half to get the nomination.”
In addition to having delegates always free to vote for whomever they wish, the delegates from the local level also have that opportunity should a consensus of who the party nominee not be reached. The rules vary state by state, and are so complicated, they wouldn’t all fit in one research paper.
Conclusions
Consider this example. Kendylvania voted for Thomas Jefferson, but the delegate Kendall Haney from Kendylvania to the national convention wanted Samuel Adams because he makes great tacos. Therefore, let the record show that tacos get Kendall’s vote! On the other hand, Brent Plumber from Brentopia, who believes everything should be fair to Joe Citizen, properly reflects that his fellow ‘topians’ wanted Thomas Jefferson to be their homeboy even though he admits that the Sam Adams’ tacos are pretty darn good. Brent, however, votes for Thomas Jefferson as he casts his ballot on a taco shell.
After having read this research paper, the conclusion people should draw (and one very important reader named Mr. Bruce Field) about their primary/caucus system is that it is unfair.
It is a crime against the constitution, and someone at some point besides a high school student should probably take note.
Is the word “Crimaries” a sufficient descriptor for the American political system? In the opinion of this author, her answer would be a resounding “on every level yes.” Suffice it to say here that primaries rhyme with “‘primaries” just like elections look like voting for president. The truth is, primaries are no more of an election for president than Joe Citizen indeed gets a real vote for his country’s leader. It’s all just a shimmy-sham asking voters to swallow the red pill or the blue pill. Then, every four years, they can feel better.
Crimaries...who’s ready for the next one?
Works Cited:
Merriam-Webster. Merriam-Webster, n.d. Web. 25 Feb. 2016.
"Caucus vs. Primary." FactCheckorg. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Feb. 2016.
"Iowa Caucus." Iowa Caucus. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Feb. 2016.
"27 Photos from the Nevada Caucuses That Will Make You Feel like You Were There." POLITICO. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Feb. 2016.
"Why the Iowa Caucuses Have Such a Massive Impact on the Presidential Race." Vox. N.p., 01 Feb. 2016. Web. 25 Feb. 2016.
The Caucus System Is A Political Process Put On By The Major Political Parties In Minnesota. At The Caucus, Party Activists Endorse, Candidates And Discuss Issues Important To That Political Party. Caucus Results In Minnesota Help Determine Which Issues Are The, Most Important To The Party And Which Candidate The Parties Will Nominate For President Or Another Elected Office., and Caucuses Differ From Primaries In That They Are Arranged By The Political Party (In Minnesota, Either Democratic-Farmer-Labor. "Top 5 Things to Know About the Minnesota Caucuses." TOP 5 THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT THE CAUCUSES IN MINNESOTA (n.d.): n. pag. Web. 25 Feb. 2016.
"Iowa Caucus." Iowa Caucus. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Mar. 2016.
"27 Photos from the Nevada Caucuses That Will Make You Feel like You Were There." POLITICO. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Mar. 2016
"Why the Iowa Caucuses Have Such a Massive Impact on the Presidential Race." Vox. N.p., 01 Feb. 2016. Web. 03 Mar. 2016.
"Why the Iowa Caucuses Have Such a Massive Impact on the Presidential Race." Vox. N.p., 01 Feb. 2016. Web. 03 Mar. 2016.
CNN News coverage
Fox News coverage
Specific information just on primaries:
"The Voter's Self Defense System." Project Vote Smart. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Mar. 2016.
"Historical Analysis of the Presidential Nominating Process." Historical Analysis of the Presidential Nominating Process. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Mar. 2016.
Specific information on delegates:
"The Role of Delegates in the U.S. Presidential Nominating Process."Washington Post. The Washington Post, 06 Feb. 2008. Web. 03 Mar. 2016.
"Bustle." Bustle. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Mar. 2016.
Image credits:
http://www.vox.com/2016/1/25/10817088/iowa-caucus-2016-poll-trump-sanders
Donald Trump: https://www.google.com/search?q=Donald+Trump+image&espv=2&tbm=isch&imgil=mviNm0r25RO5hM%253A%253Bu5KvH8wffqinOM%253Bhttp%25253A%25252F%25252Fwww.businessinsider.com%25252Fnbc-donald-trump-2015-6&source=iu&pf=m&fir=mviNm0r25RO5hM%253A%252Cu5KvH8wffqinOM%252C_&usg=__xU82ww3ex7hxX8Ft_TZBn6Z0is0%3D&biw=1680&bih=925&ved=0ahUKEwiA3oXstJPLAhUD1hQKHfevAUkQyjcIMg&ei=PzbPVsDCGoOsU_ffhsgE#imgrc=mviNm0r25RO5hM%3A
Marco Rubio: http://www.frumforum.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/Rubio-1024x703.jpg
Ted Cruz: http://cdn.theatlantic.com/assets/media/img/mt/2015/07/AP_473596995531/lead_960.jpg?1437760759
John Kasich: http://www.post-gazette.com/image/2015/07/21/ca0,0,5550,3700/KASICH0722c-7.JPG
Ben Carson: http://cdn.thedailybeast.com/content/dailybeast/articles/2015/09/19/it-s-time-to-pull-the-plug-on-dr-ben-carson-s-campaign/jcr:content/image.crop.800.500.jpg/48087751.cached.jpg
Hillary Clinton: http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/02831/Clinton1web_2831249b.jpg
Bernie Sanders: http://media.washtimes.com.s3.amazonaws.com/media/image/2015/04/29/APTOPIX_DEM_2016_Sanders.JPEG-04b1d.jpg
