GOP Approves Changes To 2012 Primary Calendar

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) -- The Republican National Committee has approved a 2012 presidential primary calendar in which caucuses and primaries begin after Feb. 1.

The plan allows only Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada to hold their contests in February. States that divide up delegates proportionally would be permitted to vote in March and winner-take-all states would go in April.

Two-thirds of the committee had to vote to approve the plan. Of the 144 members, 103 voted to pass it.

The plan's adoption had been uncertain because of concerns that it would hurt the GOP's eventual nominee. Critics worried about extending the GOP's process when President Barack Obama, if he seeks re-election, likely won't face a primary.

Comments

[IrishCatholic09]

12:43 AM on 08/09/2010

This is a terrible idea for Republicans. It opens the door for tons of candidates to stick around into March, and if they can carry high enough proportions there, you could see a field of 3 carry into April. The structure opens the door for tons of candidates to stick it out till the end, and the longer they do, the lower the chances you'd have of anyone finishing the primaries with a majority of delegates. This could be a nightmare for the GOP, especially if you had Palin, Paul, and a couple more mainstream guys stick around there. The Palin and Paul folks were/are absolutists in many cases who would be hard to unite with a more mainstream candidate if the two P's won enough to look viable. Leaving either of them off the ticket could risk part of your base in November at that point as people feel ignored.

[WOODSTOCKER51]

06:35 AM on 08/08/2010

.DESTROYING THE UNITED STATES.........WILL TAKE TIME....SO,,.RETHUGS ARE GOING TOO ADD A FEW "NEW MONTHS" TO THE YEAR..AND GIVE THEMSELVES EXTRA TIME TO FINISH THE JOB BUSH/CHENEY STARTED........

[WOODSTOCKER51]

06:32 AM on 08/08/2010

I CAN SEE WHERE FOR RETHUGS..USING A JULIAN CALENDAR COULD BE A PROBLEM.....ADDING A "NEW MONTH" WOULD REALLY EXPAND THEIR TIME TO "GET THE PARTY PLATFORM" TOGETHER ON WHAT THEY STAND FOR AND WHAT THEY WILL DO NEXT TOO THE AMERICAN PEOPLE"...
.LETS SEE..........FIRST........."TAX BREAKS FOR THE WEALTHY"............
....................2ND............."TAX BREAKS FOR THE WEALTHY"........

[its miller time]

09:30 PM on 08/07/2010

Thank goodness, I thought they were going to repeal Halloween and Easter and switch Christmas with Thanksgiving!

[WOODSTOCKER51]

06:33 AM on 08/08/2010

THEY GAVE THAT A THOUGHT.BUT COULDNT FIND A WAY TO ADD IN "TAX BREAKS FOR THE WEALTHY".....

[Wanderland]

02:37 PM on 08/07/2010

So they adopted a plan of action of what they would normally do. OK.

[AFunkyDem]

12:39 PM on 08/07/2010

--------------------------The Unanimous Declaration of The GOP------------------------------

When, in the course of Decimation at the polls

- It becomes necessary for our people to dissolve the political reality which have disconnected them with another, and to assume the (position), the separate and equal station to which the laws of voting and of nature's God entitle them, a decent thrashing to the opinions of crazy requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation of mind.

We hold these untruths to be self-evident, that all white men are white, that they are endowed by their Whiteness with certain unalienable rights, that among these are suntanning, golfing and the pursuit of money. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among white men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the subservient. That whenever any form of government becomes destructive to these ends, it is the right of the US white guys to scream loudly, and to institute new slogans laying its foundation on such hypocrisy and organizing its anger in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to confront their safety and happiness.

Regards,
An Irish Lad

[EuropeWindAndFire]

12:47 PM on 08/07/2010

Hear, hear, Irish!

On the other hand, though, you are pretty much stating the obvious. Any alternatives/solutions?

Your "rant" is about something without you. It excludes you from participating in the equation. The solution of course, is when you include yourself into the equation, like:

"I think that to overcome the current status quo, it is deemed neccessary to dedvelop a certain..." (fill in the blank).

What ye say, Lad, What ye say?

[AFunkyDem]

01:00 PM on 08/07/2010

I am working on a whole new series .I will get back to you soon.

[mommadona]

05:49 AM on 08/07/2010

Politics is big business.

Got to keep that engine of 'capitalism' hummin' right along.

(other than blank 3X5 file cards and Diebold voting fraud machines, what DOES that particular 'engine' do other than just run itself?)

[its miller time]

04:23 AM on 08/07/2010

I'm surprised that they didn't want to repeal Easter and Halloween and switch Christmas
with Thanksgiving.

[Ken Ritz]

03:40 AM on 08/07/2010

This stuff is a little too "inside baseball" for me to fully comprehend, but my instincts tell me it favors the right wing, tin foil hat community.

[eztempo]

02:21 PM on 08/07/2010

The schedule appears to keep the nomination open as long as possible. I guess they don't want an early Palin sweep to lock up the nomination (Chris Matthews' scenario), but rather to give their guy, Romney, a chance for a 'come from behind' win.

[Conan776]

12:16 PM on 08/09/2010

Mitt Romney, the socialist?

[graciesgra]

02:59 AM on 08/07/2010

I have no idea how having a certain primary at one time of the year or at a different time makes a difference. I will have to defer to others here on this site who seem to know a lot more about it than I do. All I can hope is that Pres. Obama, or whoever is the Democratic candidate, wins, and Sarah Palin (cringe) or which ever candidate the Republicans choose, loses. I certainly hope that she doesn't end up winning the nomination just because of some fluke. Sorry, guys...I know some of you would like to see her get it, but, it's just too important. What if she were to win? It would be the end of civilization. We can't take that chance.

[Lisbeth35]

11:29 AM on 08/07/2010

Little background info for you....The calendar ended up inching closer and closer to the beginning of January in the last Primary, which ended up having candidates campaigning during Christmas-New Years holidays, not good for candidates or voters. I know many voters in Iowa who were out of town with their families, so they couldn't participate. So, moving the first ones..Iowa, NH and SC to Feb is in the best interest of all political parties.

[graciesgra]

11:04 PM on 08/07/2010

OK....but I truly don't understand how the split decision or winner takes all can determine this early who might win. That is very confusing to me. It's too bad we're not consistent in all of the states, but I guess each state has its own rules. I assume there are people who study these things and therefore feel competent enough to make predictions about how things will turn out.

[Pandaforum]

01:43 AM on 08/07/2010

obama will have to run in 2012 because the dems will be trying to throw him under the bus. I expect to see hillary as presidential candidate in 2012. obama's approval ratings will be in the basement.

[Righteous Fury]

12:50 AM on 08/07/2010

A Republican congress in 2010 is scary.

Another Republican president in 2012 is terrifying.

President Sarah Palin...my family is packed and we are in our car to Canada!

[Pandaforum]

01:41 AM on 08/07/2010

start early and avoid the rush. I just wish every liberal who said he was leaving actually left.

[graciesgra]

02:44 AM on 08/07/2010

We'll leave right after Rush does....afater all, he promised to first.

[graciesgra]

02:45 AM on 08/07/2010

sorry, after

[henrypapillon]

10:41 PM on 08/06/2010

I saw the headline and I thought maybe they changed the name of their months to the candidates names----you know the republican motto, "All Politics , All the Time."

[StevieRae]

09:40 PM on 08/06/2010

The GOP has cut their throat with this same schedule. It guarantees the extreme elements of their party will determine the early nominee (Palin) through SC and thus toward winning the nomination. After that, many states will follow setting her up for a wipe out in the election.

[jcwtts1]

12:33 AM on 08/07/2010

I agree. By the time they get to the winner take all states one of two things will have happened. Palin will be the presumptive nominee and force out the other candidates or she won't be able to force them out and she'll get crushed in the winner take all states. Either way, this is tailor made for Palin to win and I love it.

[D-V-H]

08:27 PM on 08/06/2010

I am amazed that they were allowed to say "yes".