WASHINGTON — The Democratic presidential primary system has become a political relic. It distorts democracy and disenfranchises millions of Democrats. It should be replaced with either a national primary or, at the very least, rotating regional primary elections.
Yes, retail politics made a real difference in the Iowa caucuses. Massachusetts Sen. John F. Kerry's unexpected first-place showing sprang, in part, from solid performances in town halls, coffee shops, churches and schools. He took questions and listened to Iowans' parochial worries. He paid tribute to the virtues of ethanol, while his competitors sang paeans to the family farm and Iowa's famous loose-meat sandwiches.
As admirable as these democratic virtues are, just 22% of Iowa's Democratic voters, or 6% of Iowa's electorate, rearranged the Democratic presidential landscape when they caucused last week. About 125,000 Iowans effectively ended the political career of Rep. Dick Gephardt of Missouri, and possibly mortally wounded the candidacy of former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean, before tens of millions of registered Democrats even cast a vote. On Tuesday, chances are good that a sizable percentage of New Hampshire voters in the Democratic primary will further winnow the field. By Wednesday morning, one-half of 1% of the nation's Democrats will have decisively shaped the race for the nomination.
Democratic insurgents created the current system after 1968 to eliminate the power of labor leaders, elected officials and party chiefs in picking the presidential nominee. The new primary process emphasized candidates, grass roots and voters. But it gave enormous clout and control to the first two states rating the candidates. Since its inception, no Democrat has won the nomination without finishing first or second in either Iowa or New Hampshire.
Many Democrats have felt left out, as Kenneth Baer, a former speechwriter for Al Gore, reveals in his book "Reinventing Democrats." One of them was Al From, whose centrist Democratic Leadership Council was seeking a way, in 1987, to offset the dominance of Iowa and New Hampshire in the nomination process. "With all due respect," he said, "I don't think someone who lives in Dubuque should force a candidate to come flip pancakes in their kitchen four or five times in order to judge who should be president."
