Without triggering a debate about the merits of specific candidates I wonder how many of us would like to go back to the pre-primary election campaigns where the candidate was selected in July or August of the election year in the "smoke filled back rooms" of the conventions?
Most of the presidents that historians call "great" were selected that way. Lincoln, the two Roosevelts and Truman being probably the most notable.
Washington, Adams and Jefferson were certainly not selected by primary elections but they weren't picked by political party conventions either so they don't count in my thinking.
In my lifetime Franklin Roosevelt, Harry Truman, Dwight Eisenhower and John Kennedy/Lyndon Johnson were chosen by convention.
Compare them to those we've had since 1968/1972 when the switch was made....Richard Nixon, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, William Clinton, George W. Bush and Barak Obama.
If you're old enough ask yourself which list had the better presidents - we don't need to know but it is worth thinking about.
Have these unending presidential campaigns resulted in either better informed voters or better presidential candidates?
Most of the presidents that historians call "great" were selected that way. Lincoln, the two Roosevelts and Truman being probably the most notable.
Washington, Adams and Jefferson were certainly not selected by primary elections but they weren't picked by political party conventions either so they don't count in my thinking.
In my lifetime Franklin Roosevelt, Harry Truman, Dwight Eisenhower and John Kennedy/Lyndon Johnson were chosen by convention.
Compare them to those we've had since 1968/1972 when the switch was made....Richard Nixon, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, William Clinton, George W. Bush and Barak Obama.
If you're old enough ask yourself which list had the better presidents - we don't need to know but it is worth thinking about.
Have these unending presidential campaigns resulted in either better informed voters or better presidential candidates?