Obama Wants 2012 Campaign To Start In March

The Barack Obama campaign announced Tuesday that it is forming a commission with the goal of moving the 2012 Democratic presidential primary campaign back to March, with select states allowed to hold their primary or caucus in late February.

The commission, dubbed the "Democratic Change Commission" will also look to reduce the influence of superdelegates and make changes to the caucus system.

"Senator Obama is committed to working towards growing our party, improving our nominating process and ensuring as many people as possible participate in the process. Obama believes the Democratic Change Commission is an important and necessary step to achieving these goals," Obama Campaign Chairman David Plouffe said.

Read the whole story here.

Comments

[Triangle1]

Obama doesn't want the superdelegates to have more power, because these are the people who can override a bad decision by voters in earlier primaries. If say the candidate starts out strong, but then looks like he might lose to the GOP candidate, it's the only way to bump that candidate out of the way to elect someone would could close the deal and win for the Democrats. Just because a lot of people vote for someone doesn't mean they can actually win the election. The goal is to find someone who can WIN the election for the Democrats. Obama appears to be slipping, will bump up in the polls next week during his convention, then will finally bump below McCain during the Republican convention and stay there until he loses the election. Joe Biden isn't going to help. http://mespace.wordpress.com

[johnu1974]

after yesterday's "house" gaffe, mccain won't be able to recover. obama now has the control of issues, and mccain is desperate which is why he is using the tony rezko issue to throw obama off. joe biden will help unite the democratic party because he is respected and liked among progressives, moderates, independents, conservatives.
obama wants to get rid of the superdelegates because he wants the voters to decide. you're theory of obama losing doesn't hold water because obama is leading when it comes to economy, education, healthcare, and the war on iraq. and after mccain's re-instating the draft, soccer moms will come out in droves to vote against him.
i know you want to tell yourself mccain will win, but reality is we will have an obama administration for eight years.

[CharlesJ]

So sorry, but that is wrong. The superdelegates should not have the right to over-ride the vote of the people. It is not about who the DNC thinks has a better chance of winning, it is about "We the People" and who "WE The People" nominate. That is the bottom line. In fact I believe the superdelegates should be done away with. Their vote should not count any more or less than the voters period. The constitution was set up for the PEOPLE to vote and decide who the president is, not superdelegates.
Besides, maybe stripping them of their over rated power will cause them to do a better job in taking care of the American people as that would be what would get them re-elected.

[1099]

There is nothing in the Constitution that dictates how the primary and nomination process for political parties should function. The Democrats are the morons who started this superdelegate nonsense because they don't respect the will or intelligence of their party members (you). In this case, they should have made Hillary the nominee. At least she had a shot at winning.

[Bettysdad]

The only people that have a problem with the Democratic Party's processes are Mr. and Mrs. Bill Clinton.

[PumaAnn]

Is this the Feinstein commission?

[rwe]

Actually , reading your headline makes it look like Barack wants to start the 2012 campaign this coming March which falls in line with his history of running for office for 8 years and doing nothing else

[mredder4]

"The number of super delegates has gotten too large in relation to overall delegates," Plouffe said. "We want to give more control back to the voters.... Everyone thinks there ought to be more weight given to the results of the elections."

Unless it's a caucus. If it's a caucus, 1000 people with nothing better to do than vote and re-vote and re-re-vote will decide the results for millions of people. If it's a caucus, the votes of childless couples and one-foot-in-the-grave seniors will carry 10 times the weight of single parents, 3rd shift workers, and anyone who has anything resembling a life that doesn't revolve around politics (you know, real Democrats).

I'm all for changes to the Democratic primary process... if the changes were to become real and not just campaign spin. This is pre-convention smoke-blowing at its best, and as soon as the lights go out in Denver, it will be business as usual and 2012 (if Obama does not win this November) will be a repeat of the same idiotic process that we saw this year. Haven't we Democrats hurt ourselves enough yet?

Obama '08.

[desertdweller]

Campaign for what?

[HC4BO]

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[axt113]

What people don't get is Obama isn't just trying to win the election, he wants to reshape the dem party for the future so its a long term majority, that's why he's altering the infrastructure of the party

[YankeeCanuck]

Ah, how refreshing. Someone who actually reads the post and comments with intelligence about it.

[Lesjoan]

Obama better just concentrate on winning his senate seat again.

[CtJean]

He's willing it to you. give you something to do with your life.

[benne]

No superdelegates and no caucuses. The first involves a small cadre of people deciding, which will only be more problematic if the cadre is made smaller (perhaps so Obama, who will be behind such changes, has even more control over them). No caucuses because parents with children, people who are caretakers for elderly or disabled people, people with night shifts, and the working poor cannot attend.

[olivia]

The real enemy is the Republican stolen elections - Diebold, vote caging, and everything Greg Palast has written about.

They can tweak the Democratic primary system but it isn't as broken as the Clintonists make it out to be. In fact she didn't have a single problem with it until she was LOSING.

[robXdion]

What he really needs to worry about is getting better voting machines. Trying to appease Hillary supporters is not important when machines in Ohio, Florida, and Michigan give out extra Republican votes.

[benne]

There's nothing that suggests that this is anything other than solidifying his power base for the future. If he wanted to effect democratic change, he would involve more democrats and of course get rid of caucuses and superdelegates altogether. He's only going to work on stacking the deck in his favor, so he continues as the grand manipulator.

[CtJean]

It's ok with me.

Honest, intelligent, ethical, etc, etc. works for me.

[olivia]

This is absolutely the wrong time to talk about revising the rules - which badly need revising.

Obama has to talk about this because the Clintons will not stop yammering about it long enough to let Democrats focus on beating McCain.

The time to review the rules is between elections, so it is not about one candidate or another. A purely candidate-blind attitude is paramount.

[meanguy]

ooops...............as much as a jump on others for not reading sufficiently.....mea culpa maximus doofus...

[meanguy]

NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
can't we get a break????

[CtJean]

Where would you like it?