Its 2012, and that means election year. Strange things have happened when it comes to picking our next president. Add this one to the list.
Missouri Republicans decided in October to use the caucus process and not the primary that takes place on Tuesday, Feb. 7 to vote for a Republican nominee. The state would risk losing half of its delegates at the August Republican National Convention and disrupt the presidential selection schedule if it went with a different route.
The reason for this is that the Presidential Preference Primary is a month earlier than what state party guidelines say. The guideline articulates that after March 6, a Missouri primary can be held. Therefore, that is why state Republicans chose to do what it did. Now, instead of about 1.4 million voters coming out, only a projected 20,000 will show up on Tuesday.
The vote for Republicans will not count until the March 17 caucus is held.
This means that Tuesday’s primary event will be meaningless. The state Senate voted on whether to cancel it, but the vote was deadlocked 16-16. Now, the event is essentially a reported $4 to $8 million contest worth nothing. Those that voted to keep the primary said canceling it would drive voters away. Those that argued against said that it is a waste of millions in taxpayers’ money.
"I do not want to waste $8 million in taxpayer money in a very difficult time in the state's history in a beauty contest," said Senate Majority Leader Tom Dempsey, R-St. Charles to the Associated Press on October 18.
For the Democrats however, it will count. With the Republican vote counting on March 17 in the caucus, Tuesday is an all-Democratic affair. However, it is not a total loss for Republicans, “It will give the nation an idea of how the [race] is going,” Vice-Chair for Missouri Republicans in Lincoln County Joyce Pickering said.
Unlike the caucuses, primaries are private events. Media needs to be 25 feet away from the door. Some people think the primaries are a better way to go, “I can’t see any propose in the caucuses,” Pickering said.
No matter the feeling towards Tuesday, it should make for an interesting weekend leading up to it. Many people are not fully aware that their vote will go by the wayside when they place a checkmark for the Republicans.
Issa David - I.S.David will make sure his readers have and know the 5 W's in his stories. Articles are never written until the facts are straighten ...
Join the Conversation