Democrats discuss
Western primary By
GINNY MERRIAM of the Missoulian
A coordinated Western states primary
could go a long way to asserting the Western voice in the selection
of presidential candidates, writer and thinker Dan Kemmis told the
Missoula County Democrats Tuesday night.
But figuring out how
and how much to change the system is not as easy as it might
seem.
Proponents of a Western states primary suggest that the
eight Rocky Mountain states band together to hold primaries and
caucuses closer together and earlier in the season than Montana's is
held now. That would compel candidates to visit Western states
instead of flying over. And it would encourage Westerners to
identify the regional issues they hold in common.
“It's trying to get presidential candidates to pay
some attention to the West,” said Kemmis, who is working on the idea
from a bipartisan perspective in his work as senior fellow in public
policy at the University of Montana's Center for the Rocky Mountain
West.
As it is now, Montana's June primary is among the
last.
“So, of course, we have absolutely no influence,”
Kemmis told his audience of about 35 people meeting in the Missoula
Children's Theater building.
A late, isolated primary can
also debilitate voters, cutting turnout because they feel the
decisions are already made.
In today's structure, Iowa and
New Hampshire wield disproportionate influence and are not
necessarily representative of a wide spectrum of
voters.
Utah's former Republican Gov. Michael Leavitt, now
Health and Human Services secretary, crusaded for the idea in 2000.
He had substantial help from Mike Cooney, Montana's secretary of
state at the time, Kemmis said. In 2004, New Mexico Gov. Bill
Richardson, a Democrat, took up the cause and convinced the
bipartisan Western Governors' Association to endorse it. The idea is
also supported by Democrats for the West, a coalition of Democratic
leaders and activists from nine Western states.
“This has
gained considerable momentum,” Kemmis said.
In December, a
Democratic Party task force, the Commission on Presidential
Nomination Timing and Scheduling, proposed what its members called
an “incremental” solution. It would allow caucuses in one or two
other states between the Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire's primary,
the first in the nation. It would also allow primaries in one or two
other states the week after New Hampshire's.
The task force
proposed penalizing states that clumped up primaries in more than a
certain number within a certain time frame and rewarding states that
waited until later with extra delegates.
The window for
primaries and caucuses in 2008 opens Feb. 5.
In Montana,
moving a primary election is an immense undertaking, Kemmis said.
The primary includes local, state and Legislative offices as well as
presidential.
“Whenever Montana has talked about moving the
primary up, expense has come up,” he said.
Utah Gov. Jon
Huntsman asked the Utah Legislature to hold back $850,000 toward
holding a Feb. 5 primary, he said.
Democrat Diane Sands,
speaking from the audience, suggested any Montana committee
discussing the possibility should include at least one clerk and
recorder, such as Missoula's Vickie Zeier.
One possibility,
Kemmis suggested, is moving just the presidential
primary.
The important thing is to move toward coordination
as a region, he said.
“It's not only getting it to happen,”
he said, “but getting it to happen in a meaningful way where the
West has a voice.”
