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	Notre Dame ReSource: Schmuhl criticizes primary system


    
      
        
          Notre Dame ReSource: Schmuhl criticizes primary system

          
            
              
                
                Published: March 14, 2007
              

              
                Author: Michael O. Garvey
              

              







          

          
          
          

          
        
        
        
          

Bemoaning recent developments in the nations electoral system, Robert Schmuhl, Annenberg-Joyce Professor of American Studies and Journalism at the University of Notre Dame, asks:Is this any way to choose a president?

In an op/ed piece in todays edition of USA Today, Schmuhl argues thatthe process for selecting the highest office is hopelessly confusing, constantly changing and seriously flawed.

Schmuhl is particularly troubled by the fact that some 20 states are seeking to increase their electoral potency by planning primaries and caucuses for next Feb. 5,creating, in effect, a national primary day.Thisfront-loading,he believes, will evaporate the influence of other states and result in a slate of hastily choseninsidercandidates embarking on a debilitating 10-month campaign before the general election in November.

Winning the nation’s (and world’s) most significant office should never be a cakewalk,Schmuhl says.But gaining the Democratic or Republican presidential nomination shouldn’t be a political pentathlon or a maze-like gauntlet that excludes so many citizens from direct participation.

* Contact *  _:Professor Robert Schmuhl 574-631-5128 or rschmuhl@nd.edu 

_

TopicID: 21725

        

        
        
          
            

          

        
      
      
    
  
  
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