From the Primaries to the Polls is March eBook of the Month
DUBLIN, Ohio, USA, 27 February, 2008 -- America's presidential nominating process is inherently unfair and exclusive, yielding undue weight and privilege to the states that vote in the earliest rounds. More and more states are beating down the door to vote earlier, trying to redress the inequity on a state-by-state basis. In the ensuing free-for-all, the presidential primary schedule has become so front-loaded that the anointed "front-runner" with the biggest war chest in each of the major parties is the de facto nominee. The primaries are becoming mere noise and pageantry, as the national conventions have been for several decades.
From the Primaries to the Polls describes the problem and proposes the solution. The American Plan is designed to begin with contests in small-population states, where candidates do not need millions of dollars to compete and a wide field of presidential hopefuls can be competitive in the early going. A "minor candidate's" surprise success in early rounds, based on merit rather than money, tends to attract money from larger numbers of small contributors for the campaign to spend in later rounds of primaries. Keeping more candidates in the race longer to challenge to the "front-runners" prevents a rush to judgment and permits more voters across the country to select from a diverse field. As the campaign proceeds over ten two-week intervals of primaries and caucuses on a semi-randomized schedule, the aggregate value of contested states becomes successively larger, requiring the expenditure of larger amounts of money in order to campaign effectively. A more gradual weeding-out process occurs, allowing a clear winner to emerge only after the full spectrum of candidates has been in play nationally.
Provided through the generous support of The Greenwood Publishing Group, From the Primaries to the Polls will be available through more than 15,000 participating libraries March 1-31. To help libraries promote the March eBook of the Month, NetLibrary has developed a tool kit of free promotional resources that includes print-on-demand bookmarks, a sample press release and electronic support materials. More information is available at:
http://library.netlibrary.com/eBookOfTheMonth.aspx
About the Author
THOMAS GANGALE is the author of the American Plan for reforming the presidential nomination process, which is gaining support within the National Association of Secretaries of State and the national and state committees of both parties and on the editorial pages of national newspapers, including The New York Times.
About the Greenwood Publishing Group
The Greenwood Publishing Group is one of the world's leading publishers of reference titles, academic and general interest books, texts, books for librarians and other professionals, and electronic resources. With over 18,000 titles in print, GPG publishes some 1,000 books each year under imprints such as Praeger, Greenwood Press, and Libraries Unlimited. Many of these titles are recognized with annual awards from Choice, Library Journal, the American Library Association, and other scholarly and professional organizations.
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