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Editorial: With luck, Wyman could set up meaningful presidential primary

Thu., Aug. 27, 2015

It may all be over but the shouting by next May, but Washington Secretary of State Kim Wyman is determined to hold a state presidential primary even if Democrats and Republicans are potential party poopers.

Wyman, the only Republican to hold an elected, statewide position, says the primaries are the best way to get the electorate involved. All the electorate.

She’s going to have to work hard, and hope the stars align, to make her point: that caucuses exclude too many from participation in an important phase of presidential campaigns.

Both parties prefer a caucus-based system that puts the choice of delegates to the national conventions in the hands of party loyalists. But a determined, organized group of ideologues can hijack the neighborhood get-togethers, as followers of evangelist Pat Robertson did in the 1988 GOP meetings.

That embarrassment was enough to propel an initiative calling for presidential primaries into, and through, the Legislature. But the process sputtered in 1992, and for some of the same reasons that Wyman has work to do.

The primary was held in May. The parties held their caucuses in March, as they will next year. It was already clear incumbent President George H.W. Bush would be facing then Arkansas Gov. Bill Clinton in November. The surprise was Texas businessman Ross Perot, who was in, out, and back in as a third-party candidate, eventually capturing 19 percent of the votes cast.

Only 10 percent of Washington voters turned out in May.

Efforts to make the primaries more meaningful by moving the dates, and using ballots listing all candidate names, with voters declaring party loyalty on their ballots, undermined the credibility of the process.

Democrats never relied on the primaries for the selection of convention delegations, using national party rules as a defense for their position. Republicans set aside one-half their delegation seats based on primary returns.

The 2004 primary was canceled in part because of Democrat indifference, and in 2012 because of cost.

But Wyman was able to secure $11.5 million from a split Legislature to pay for a 2016 primary. With the huge Republican field, and the potential entry of more Democrats – Vice President Joe Biden? – the outcome of both intra-party contests may still be in doubt. More candidates might campaign in Washington, as Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul did here Wednesday, and create excitement that attracts more voter interest.

It’s too bad Wyman was unable last week to convince party representatives a primary in March could be that kind of catalyst. Or maybe that’s their fear.

The fewer the voters participating, the easier it is to control the process. Party faithful deserve recognition for the work they do between campaigns, but not to the degree they exclude the broader electorate.

With luck, the 2016 campaign will unfold the way Wyman hopes; with the party nominees yet to be crowned. We, too, want to see a meaningful primary. If not, there may be no cause to spend more millions on future primaries.