tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6719252574677567989.post8240302372047791805..comments2024-03-26T05:22:08.256-04:00Comments on Frontloading HQ: Arizona Bill Introduced to Place Presidential Primary on the Same Date as Iowa CaucusesJosh Putnamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06301836432446874997noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6719252574677567989.post-41369263560527226222013-01-20T13:39:23.683-05:002013-01-20T13:39:23.683-05:00A couple of things in response to a very good poin...A couple of things in response to a very good point, MysteryPolitico:<br />1) The intended emphasis there was on "open season". Given the rules that are in place now within both parties (incomplete rules, mind you -- Rules that are potentially subject to change.), the Democrats would not allow that (week long in 2016 but not in all subsequent years) Republican buffer between the final Tuesday in February and March 1. That inter-party rules discrepancy might not keep Arizona, Florida and Michigan out of that area of the calendar but might (and if past precedent is any indication probably would) be effective in warding off most other would-be violator states. State-level party control, then, matters.<br /><br />2) Now, of course, you already kind of countered "only the carve-outs in late February" part with the CNN item. That 50% penalty buffer area that Peter Hamby mentions may be the the RNC intention, but that is not what the Tampa rules will net the party. I didn't really want to open up that can of worms in this post (though relevant) because that would have complicated the explanation. I plan at least one post on this before I meet with some RNC folks to discuss their rules this coming week during their winter meeting in Charlotte.Josh Putnamhttp://frontloading.blogspot.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6719252574677567989.post-22497983177267522452013-01-19T02:20:53.405-05:002013-01-19T02:20:53.405-05:00You write "First of all, the Arizona primary ...You write "First of all, the Arizona primary as is currently scheduled (the fourth Tuesday) is already in violation of both the Republican and Democratic Party rules that governed the 2012 presidential delegate selection process. There is no indication -- either in the rules passed by the RNC at the 2012 convention in Tampa or within the DNC from what FHQ can gather -- that late February is going to be open season for states other than Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina."<br /><br />Can I put one asterisk on this?<br /><br />The reporting from last year's RNC (e.g., http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2012/08/22/republicans-approve-super-penalty-measure-to-rescue-primary-calendar/ ) suggested that the "super penalty" only applied to states that held contests more than a week before the normal primary window. Arizona, holding its primary exactly one week before the window, would still lose half its delegates, but not get hit with the super penalty.<br /><br />Is there really any doubt that, should that rule hold, at least one or two states (provisionally Arizona and Michigan, but maybe Florida and others as well) will be willing to hold primaries in that last week of February and take the 50% delegate penalty? I mean, what was the point of cutting that deal for the extra week in the first place if there wasn't a strong contingent from AZ and MI who think that the 50% penalty is worth it, and will still be worth it in 2016?<br />astrojobhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06643324377144064814noreply@blogger.com