Probably.. But inertia is a powerful force...

Michale

Whatever reforms are considered, the two party system should be up for debate as well.

Haven't we reached the point where registered independents outnumber the D's and R's combined?

A

1) cut­ the num­ber of de­bates,

2) com­press­ the nom­in­at­ing sched­ule,

and

3) in­tro­du­ce harsh pen­al­ties for can­did­ates and states that vi­ol­ate party rules.

There was also mention of designating February as the "carve out month," which I interpret as winnowing the field to something like 8-10 candidates by March, but I may be wrong about this.

If by cutting the number of debates means cutting the number of useless "debates" because there are too many candidates squeezed into not enough time, than I'm all for that. Compressing the schedule and enforcing the rules also seem pretty reasonable reforms to me.

That said, if Priebus is willing to expand the number of regions from 5 (an awkward prime) to an initial 8, he could institute a genuine seeded bracket system that would be adequate for the 2016 field, from the establishment favorites, to the craziest crusaders to the vainest of vanity candidates. (Long time readers with good long term memories will note I've proposed this before).

Seeding could incorporate poll numbers and other factors (government service, military or civil to name one other). Rounds last 1 week, with one two- person televised debate in each region, followed by state primaries in each region. The candidate garnering the most votes in the region advances to the next bracket, amalgamated from 8 (week one) to 4 (week two), to 2 , which amounts to a genuine National Primary for the Republican Party on week 3. Week 4 is a Republican Political Sabbath allowing viewers to be well rested for Basketball March Madness.

The main advantage of the bracket primary system is that it enhances the debate process (genuine rebuttal and follow-up), preserves a useful degree of focused regional campaigning AND gets it all over in a mere 3 weeks! Seasoned politicians are favored, but a talented newcomer has chance to shine, while inept ones are scratched early on.

The main disadvantage of the bracket primary system is that it formally turns the Nation Convention into a mere coronation. Which on second thought, could actually be considered an advantage.

What exactly is "preferential voting"??

Michale

Your preferential voting system doesn't seem crazy at all. It would be a big improvement here. It didn't have anything to do with Abbott getting the boot though, did it?

I am not allowed to vote in any primaries anyways, so any primary schedule means very little to me..

Your comment indicates you are not in the US.. Where do you live, if you don't mind my asking??

Michale

I've written before about the "best turnout goes first" rule. But I was too lazy too look up the cite. It is an intriguing idea, but I'm almost certain it wasn't original -- I probably read about it elsewhere...

-CW

If only, CW.... If only.... :D

The states with the highest voter turnout would vote first, and those with the lowest turnout would vote last. This would provide incentive to each state to improve their numbers.

That is also an excellent idea... :D

Michale