The primary season consists of three systems: The Money Primary, The Press Primary, and The People Primary. With two of these decided, how many voters will stick around for the thir? by rtbohan
(libertarian)
Tuesday, January 8, 2008
The primary season in a presidential election year consists of three primaries. The first of these was identified by Bill Clinton as " The Money Primary". The meaning of this term is that people who donate to political campaigns determine which candidates will have the funds to keep compaigning through a long primary season. This is a very real determiner of the winners. The last two Presidents absorbed so much of the available funds that the race for the nomination of their parties was virtually over as soon as it began. Al Gore won the Democratic version of the money primary in 2000, but dropped his plans for a campaign when he lost the money primary in 2004.
The Media Primary is an older system, but, while quite visible this year, not as often talked about. I once heard a newsman describe it this way: "We don't pick the candidates, but we decide which ones will be seriously considered." This system was used in 1992 when the press hailed Clinton as the leading candidate and proclaimed him the winner of the New Hampshire primary after he lost in both Iowa and New Hampshire.
This year, thanks to the arrogance of the Des Moines Register and Fox News, the operation of this primary has been particularly brazen. The Register ignored its own conditions for being in the debate to exclude Dennis Kucinich from the Democratic panel, and adding Allen Keyes to the Republican panel. The Register excluded a qualified candidate because his emphasis on ending the war might empbarrass the preferred candidates. The second was taken to lessen the time available to "lesser" Rpublican candidates, especially Ron Paul. Fox excluded Ron Paul from the New Hampshire debate, while admitting candidates with less support in the polls and fewer donations.
It is clear that Paul and Kucinich have lost the media primary. Kucinich also lost the money primary, but he will soldier on becuase he believes in his mission, but he is out of the race. Ron Paul did quite well in the money primary, but his loss of the media primary greatly increases his task and that of his supporters. Even on the day of the truncated Fox debate I noticed that none of the networks mentioned Paul's candidacy in their news broadcasts, and that his poll numbers were never mentioned even in listing where all of the other candidates stood in the polls.
Ron Paul still has significant support from the voters, and a volunteer group willling to work for him. But with what is a virtual news blackout, keeping the campaign alive requires a larger effort from his supporters. It is not an impossible task, but a formidable one. The People's Primary is not yet finished. A part of changing America is restoring the primacy of the people over money and the media
r
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