By Paul Bergman Santa Monica
In all the excitement about California moving up the date of its presidential primaries, has anyone considered that the primary process itself might be partly to blame for the current sense of political malaise and the poor quality of many of the candidates?
Presidential primaries tend to be dominated by the parties’ extremes; they must be expensive for states to conduct; they, undoubtedly, ratchet up the amount of money that candidates have to pursue; and they have changed formerly gripping conventions into scripted, dull coronations.
Can anyone say that the primaries have produced better candidates? Let’s go back to the days when the parties’ political gurus held sway in conventions’ smoke-filled rooms, but hold the smoke.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on February 24, 2007. Read the original PDF.