Looks like Romney will win Michigan and Arizona - the latter handily. This will create some Mittmentum. We shall see if that continues through some rough sledding in Super Tuesday. Mitt only has a week to destroy his opponents in those states.
Interestingly, Santorum could wind up winning more delegates in Michigan because of how they apportion their delegates.
That leads to the second story that needs to be addressed: How the hell do the GOP run their nominating process?
It doesn't take long to realize that the system by which we nominate Presidential candidates in both parties is a patchwork bit of illogical nonsense. Of course, the Democratic Party traditionally has been a patchwork bit of illogical nonsense, so that works.
But the GOP doesn't DO nomination fights, dahlink! They don't plunge into the spring without coronating someone. Long drawn out contests are not the GOP way.
But now that they have one on their hands it certainly does expose the creaky artifice involved, does it not? You have a Missouri primary that Santorum won that awards no delegates. You have a situation where Santorum could still win or tie Romney in delegates despite losing by 4% or more of the vote.
We need all sorts of electoral reform in this country. Super PACs, efforts to disenfranchise voters, gerrymandering.
But maybe we can agree that A) giving Iowa and New Hampshire a major voice in selecting our national executive and B) having a system so byzantine and complex that even the people who are paid to understand it don't really isn't the best way to go. I mean in 2008, Hillary's people couldn't tell caucuses from primaries and winner-take-all from proportional.
Every state should have a primary. Every primary should be proportional. Every state should have a say.
That wasn't so hard, was it?
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