Thoughts on the Democratic Primary, Part Three

 

The Calendar

There's a lot to think about for those who want to remake the Democratic Primary to balance all the different interests of the party. Not least of which was the calendar.

Yes, there was the problem of Michigan and Florida. And yes, there was the excessive front-loading on Super Tuesday.  But just think about how the role of placement impacted our perspective on the race.

Imagine the first races (IA, NH, NV, SC) finished exactly the way they did. The candidates split the races evenly and seemed evenly matched at the end of January.

Then Super Tuesday, where Obama finished roughly even with Hillary. Take Georgia, Minnesota, and Colorado out and replace them with Pennsylvania, Kentucky, and Ohio.

Follow that up, not with the Potomac Primary, but states like West Virginia, Texas, Indiana, and the territory of Puerto Rico, and suddenly, by the end of February, it's hard to imagine Obama being able to justify staying in the race. Given his underdog status and his near burial in delegates at this point, he'd probably have been forced to call it quits before March even rolls around.

But this calendar, by accident, was custom-made for Obama. He took advantage and won.

A different calendar? Very easily a different result.