PRESIDENT'S PERSPECTIVE Just when you think it is safe to turn off your TIVO® … Just when you think it is safe to turn off your TIVO® <strong>and</strong> start watching TV live again because the elections are over, another specter is looming in media l<strong>and</strong>: the 2012 Presidential elections. C<strong>and</strong>idates like Newt Gingrich, Mitt Romney <strong>and</strong> Sara Palin will be vying to become the Republican st<strong>and</strong>ard-bearer to challenge the “Obama Dragon.” All of them <strong>and</strong> more will take to the news talk channels <strong>and</strong> rubber chicken circuit, trying to call in the chits they doled out during the <strong>2010</strong> election cycle helping congressional, state <strong>and</strong> local c<strong>and</strong>idates win elections or mightily challenge the Democrats. This next election on the horizon brings up an ugly sore in the Republican <strong>and</strong> Democratic corpus. No, I am not talking about unwinding ObamaCare or fixing Social Security. Those are patty-cake games compared to the Big Problem for politicians: primary elections. If you recall – in what seems like light-years ago – <strong>Florida</strong> <strong>and</strong> Michigan were particularly piqued that their significant delegate count would hardly matter in the Silly Season of the Presidential Party Primaries. Every c<strong>and</strong>idate, no matter how crazy or brilliant, has an opportunity to soar, or crash <strong>and</strong> burn from these runway states. 4 BUILDING CENTRAL FLORIDA NOVEMBER <strong>2010</strong> Those states, Iowa <strong>and</strong> New Hampshire, have populations that are antithetical to most populous states <strong>and</strong> are the darlings of the c<strong>and</strong>idates <strong>and</strong> the party apparatchik. To them, the Iowa Caucuses were the “kiddy wading pool” for presidential contenders. The media markets are cheap, <strong>and</strong> winning in those states is all about putting together an army of supporters, which anyone can do. Every c<strong>and</strong>idate, no matter how crazy or brilliant, has an opportunity to soar, or crash <strong>and</strong> burn from these runway states. Like Little League parents of a Frank Viola watching the coach installing his son of questionable abilities to be the starting pitcher, <strong>Florida</strong> <strong>and</strong> Michigan said “No Mas!” Those states’ political parties thought they should also be invited to the dance. (How many metaphors do you think I can cram in this column? I am going for the record!) When <strong>Florida</strong> moved up its primaries to January of 2008, you would have thought the state had contracted Ebola <strong>and</strong> it quickly became the pariah of the contenders. Votes cast for Obama or Hillary, McCain or Romney would not be counted in the conventions, <strong>and</strong> delegates from these states would not be seated at the party conventions. (Never mind that party conventions are little more than poorly staged Shakespeare plays, with a well-known script <strong>and</strong> outcome.) When <strong>Florida</strong> announced its date in late January, both Iowa <strong>and</strong> New Hampshire moved their elections up to early January, <strong>and</strong> pledged titfor-tat if any state tried to move earlier. It was only resolved in 2008 when Obama <strong>and</strong> McCain came out of the pack <strong>and</strong> secured the necessary delegate votes by the middle of the summer. Then both graciously agreed to seat those delinquent delegates at the party conventions. Lord knows what would have happened if either had been a close race. It did help the public underst<strong>and</strong> that the primary races are actually private elections. That is, they are not open to the public. If you are not a party registered voter in most states, you cannot vote in the primary election. Also, the National Party determines the rules, not the Constitution, not the state legislature or even the state party. (Tell me again why tax money should go to pay for these primary election costs???) So, here we are at the starting line of the 2012 presidential elections, <strong>and</strong> nothing has been resolved. Unless the disenfranchised states like <strong>Florida</strong>, Ohio, Texas <strong>and</strong> California are allowed to be part of the decision-making process, particularly in the Republican primaries, you might see the primary elections a year or more earlier than 2008. Given the ugliness in this primary, the litany of blame <strong>and</strong> accusation, don’t look for these folks to suddenly become Solomon <strong>and</strong> Mother Teresa when it comes to winning the big prize in 2012. Where are my TIVO® instructions? Mark P. Wylie, President
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