David Broder

Ah, David Broder. I think it's safe to say the pasture Broder should have been put out to is long past green, hell it's long past snowed upon. Today, Broder writes that after coming back from a one week vacation he has learned the Democrats are changing their primary schedule. Pretty impressive, Hotline only reported as such on July 22nd, although the final official vote took place August 19th.

Anyway, in Broder's eyes the Dems "have gone and messed it up again." Why? Well, apparently Broder believes that the great unwashed masses that reside outside of New Hampshire do not possess the skill sets needed to pick the Democratic nominee to be the leader of the free world. From the Washington Post:

What was lost in all this was any sense of public deliberation about the choice of the next president. In the general election, people have two months or more to evaluate two or maybe three candidates. In the early primaries, eight or 10 people may be vying. What is most needed is time -- and a place -- for them to be carefully examined.

Historically, New Hampshire has fulfilled that responsibility. Voters there -- in both parties and especially among the numerous independents who also vote in the primary -- take their role seriously. They turn up at town meetings and they ask probing questions. So do the interviewers at local papers and broadcast stations. So do high school students.

New Hampshire voters don't need -- or particularly want -- guidance from Iowa, and frequently they ignore the Iowa results. But they are stuck with Iowa. Now, thanks to the Democrats, they may be stuck with Nevada as well, and crowded from behind by South Carolina.

Well , we wouldn't want to mess with that, especially considering New Hampshire's track record. Since 1952, when the state became the nation's first primary, New Hampshire has picked exactly four Democratic presidents. Those four primary winners that went on to be president were an unopposed JFK, an unopposed LBJ, Jimmy Carter over political powerhouse Morris Udall, and a second term Bill Clinton (New Hampshire picked Paul Tsongas in Clinton's first run).

Some of the other "great" picks New Hampshire Democrats have picked include Michael Dukakis, Gary Hart, Edmund Muskie, and C. Estes Kefauver (Twice!). I guess we should just cancel all other primaries and caucuses and just let New Hampshire pick our nominee.

Hell, Broder doesn't even seem to understand that the real reason for this shuffling of the primaries is to balance the field against Hillary's massive war chest. Time to move on old man.