Criticism and Support
Critics of the American Plan point out that its random selection system could lead to high travel costs for candidates (as opposed to regional plans) due to random selection of primary states. John Nichols mentioned in The Nation that these costs are minimal compared to the costs of running full TV, radio, print and online media campaigns in several states simultaneously, as would happen under a the large regional plans. However, such advertising buys would also be necessary under the American Plan in later rounds.
The plan is supported by:
- California Democratic Party
- California Young Democrats
- Connecticut Secretary of State Susan Bysiewicz
- FairVote
- OPS-Alaska
- Young Democrats of America
Additionally, the American Plan was the only systematic reform cited in the December 2005 Report of the Commission on Presidential Nomination Timing and Scheduling to Democratic National Committee chairman Howard Dean:
"In considering the options for 2012 the Commission encourages the Party to think boldly, including for example, consideration of the proposal known as the American Plan which would spread the calendar of contests across ten intervals of time and randomly select the order of the states from one presidential election cycle to the next."
Read more about this topic: Graduated Random Presidential Primary System
Famous quotes containing the words criticism and, criticism and/or support:
“A friend of mine spoke of books that are dedicated like this: “To my wife, by whose helpful criticism ...” and so on. He said the dedication should really read: “To my wife. If it had not been for her continual criticism and persistent nagging doubt as to my ability, this book would have appeared in Harper’s instead of The Hardware Age.””
—Brenda Ueland (1891–1985)
“As far as criticism is concerned, we don’t resent that unless it is absolutely biased, as it is in most cases.”
—John Vorster (1915–1983)
“Certainly parents play a crucial role in the lives of individuals who are intellectually gifted or creatively talented. But this role is not one of active instruction, of teaching children skills,... rather, it is support and encouragement parents give children and the intellectual climate that they create in the home which seem to be the critical factors.”
—David Elkind (20th century)