The Progressive Primary
Nyman D.C.
It is about time I sweep off the cobwebs from this dormant tabloid and comment on the news of the day a little more.....
The Progressive Primary - it could perhaps be declared one of the modern wonders of the Atlasian world - a primary that suddenly runs the risk of actually mattering. There are very few Atlasians who remember the first primaries in Atlasia before the February 2004 contests, and even fewer who participated in them. Those contests mattered - they set up the Nym v. Supersoulty contest, and candidates paid genuine attention to them.
The Progressive Primary does not have the same impact as those primaries, and it never could - the electoral system is much friendlier to any candidate who chooses to stay in the race despite poor primary polling, and perhaps more importantly, remains friendly to any winning candidate if lower placed candidates stay in the race. IRV dispels many of the potential problems of a split leftist/centrist/rightist vote (though they can exist in certain, extreme circumstances). Also, the partisan dealignment, whereby ties of individuals to a party are much weaker because they have no real world equivalent, has also meant the primaries are not as strong as they could be. Ultimately no candidate fears the wrath of members of their own party if they fail to drop out after a poor showing - the Progressive Primary is not run by a Party leadership at all.
Instead, the Progressive Primary is being run by one man for the benefit of the general left of the political spectrum, and even if it doesn't provide some benefit to the left, at least it has provided some interesting viewing until the actual election takes place. That man is EarlAW - he has constructed the primary from the ground up - he assembled a voter list; he decided a programme for the primaries across the Regions; he designed a system for awarding delegates; and he administers the whole thing.
How much will the Progressive Primary matter? Only time can tell, though it has a much better chance than many that have gone before it - it has grabbed the attention of many on the left who have voted without prompt, and lots of candidates have paid attention to it (as opposed to taking it for granted which used to happen with internal party primaries).
Its ultimate test will be this - does the winner of the primary get a push out of the final convention and actually do better than many of those who he beats? Only time will tell.
It is about time I sweep off the cobwebs from this dormant tabloid and comment on the news of the day a little more.....
The Progressive Primary - it could perhaps be declared one of the modern wonders of the Atlasian world - a primary that suddenly runs the risk of actually mattering. There are very few Atlasians who remember the first primaries in Atlasia before the February 2004 contests, and even fewer who participated in them. Those contests mattered - they set up the Nym v. Supersoulty contest, and candidates paid genuine attention to them.
The Progressive Primary does not have the same impact as those primaries, and it never could - the electoral system is much friendlier to any candidate who chooses to stay in the race despite poor primary polling, and perhaps more importantly, remains friendly to any winning candidate if lower placed candidates stay in the race. IRV dispels many of the potential problems of a split leftist/centrist/rightist vote (though they can exist in certain, extreme circumstances). Also, the partisan dealignment, whereby ties of individuals to a party are much weaker because they have no real world equivalent, has also meant the primaries are not as strong as they could be. Ultimately no candidate fears the wrath of members of their own party if they fail to drop out after a poor showing - the Progressive Primary is not run by a Party leadership at all.
Instead, the Progressive Primary is being run by one man for the benefit of the general left of the political spectrum, and even if it doesn't provide some benefit to the left, at least it has provided some interesting viewing until the actual election takes place. That man is EarlAW - he has constructed the primary from the ground up - he assembled a voter list; he decided a programme for the primaries across the Regions; he designed a system for awarding delegates; and he administers the whole thing.
How much will the Progressive Primary matter? Only time can tell, though it has a much better chance than many that have gone before it - it has grabbed the attention of many on the left who have voted without prompt, and lots of candidates have paid attention to it (as opposed to taking it for granted which used to happen with internal party primaries).
Its ultimate test will be this - does the winner of the primary get a push out of the final convention and actually do better than many of those who he beats? Only time will tell.
posted by Peter at 11:40 am
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