Tag Archives: race

The whiter shade of pale primaries are now over. The overwhelming whiteness of Iowa and New Hampshire, in context. The election results tell us nothing about the greater American electorate, which is far more diverse.

Iowa and New Hampshire have for far too long enjoyed “first in the nation” status with electorates that are not at all representative of America. They enjoy an outsized influence over our elections which is not merited, and is not healthy for our political process. This should be the last election that these states enjoy “first in the nation” status.

It is long past time that we fix this biased primary system. See Dylan Matthews at Vox.com, I’m from New Hampshire, and the New Hampshire primary has to go:

By putting Iowa and New Hampshire first, the Democratic and Republican parties are effectively saying that disproportionate power and influence should go to a small group of overwhelmingly white people in rural areas and small cities. That influence shouldn’t go to a state or region with a large Hispanic population. It shouldn’t go to a state or region with a large black population. It shouldn’t go to a state with large cities and a strong interest in urban issues. It should go to these people instead.

That does a profound disservice to the millions of Americans living in diverse, densely populated areas. Or, to put it more bluntly, it gives white people outsize power in determining nominees, and disenfranchises black, Hispanic, Asian Americans, and Native Americans relatively speaking.

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