National Primary - Criticisms

Criticisms

The major flaw in the concept is that it takes the phenomenon of frontloading, which other reform plans seek to alleviate, to its ultimate conclusion. Candidates would need to raise huge sums of money, before the first vote was cast in any state, in order to wage a nation-wide campaign. Neither the Republican National Committee's 2000 Advisory Commission on the Presidential Nominating Process nor the Democratic National Committee's 2005 Commission on Presidential Nomination Timing and Scheduling considered a national primary as a reform concept; rather they considered it the consequence of inadequate action to reform the process.

According to Senator Spencer Abraham, "the trend of frontloading, which will, in the not too distant future, produce a single national primary day is a disturbing trend that needs attention. To have the selection process essentially come down to a single day of dozens of primaries ensures little to no deliberation on this extremely important decision. It would result in minimal give-and-take on issues such that the succeeding candidate would not be the product of a thoughtful issue discussion."

Former Oklahoma Governor Frank Keating said, "I also concur fully in the Commission's belief that a national primary would NOT be a welcome replacement for the current system, since it would create as many problems as it might solve."

According to Terry Shumaker in the Transcript of the Commission on Presidential Nomination Timing and Scheduling, "we need to preserve the possibility for lesser known, lesser funded candidates to compete, and a national primary on February 5th will not do that."