Choosing Presidential Nominees

Report Outline
Demand for Change
Effects of Reform
Rules Rolled Back
Special Focus

Demand for Change

Party Control or Mass Participation

The Jan. 10 Republican precinct caucuses in Michigan and the Feb. 20 Democratic precinct caucuses in Iowa mark the official beginning of the process to select delegates to the parties' national presidential nominating conventions this summer. President Reagan, who announced Jan. 29 that he would seek re-election, is unlikely to have any serious Republican challenger at the GOP convention Aug. 20–23 in Dallas. For the Democrats it is a different story. Eight candidates are actively seeking the presidential nomination. The big question for them is whether former Vice President Walter F. Mondale, the acknowledged front-runner, will be able to sew up the nomination before the Democratic National Convention begins July 16 in San Francisco.

To the casual observer, the nominating process will appear to be much like that in recent years. A party-prescribed number of delegates and alternates to the national conventions will be selected in each state either through party primaries or in precinct and state caucuses. The GOP events are likely to be calm affairs. Reagan is not expected to mount an active primary campaign; instead his organizers will work quietly to ensure that the delegates chosen will endorse his renomination. The Democratic candidates, on the other hand, will be rushing from primary campaign to precinct caucus to win delegates in what some have described as an exhausting, “crazy quilt” system.

The Democrats will not only be working in a crowded field; they will be working fast. Noting the heavy publicity advantage enjoyed by states holding early events, several states have moved their primaries or caucuses up to the beginning of the campaign season. According to some analysts, the schedule is now so “front-loaded” that a strong candidate could wrap up the nomination by the third week in March.