Projo Politics Blog

What better day than Presidents Day to take a closer look at the idea of Rhode Island moving up the date of its presidential primaries?

The Journal story by Scott MacKay not only explores the proposal, but revisits the history of presidential primaries across the country.

"The way Americans choose their presidents has always been Balkanized, mainly, experts say, because the U.S. Constitution ignores presidential selection," McKay writes.

He quotes Larry Sabato, a political science professor at the University of Virginia and longtime follower of the presidential selection process.

"In the beginning, the country didn't have parties,'' said Sabato. "The founders were suspicious of parties. So they ignored politics.''

MacKay continues with his lesson in primary politics:

"What has emerged in the two centuries since is a series of state-by-state caucuses and primaries that choose delegates to the Democratic and Republican national conventions. Delegates at those conventions then choose the party's candidates for president and vice president."

The birthday of the the country's first president, George Washington, was also marked today by President Bush, at Mount Vernon -- or as Bush called it "the home of the first George W."

The holiday also honors the president who abolished slavery and endured the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln.

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