As we try to fix the madness that could result in primaries at the Winter Solstice, I think past voting should be a factor. For example, in which states is the highest percentage of eligible voters registered? Of registered voters, which states had the highest percentage participation in the previous presidential election? Aren’t those states full of good citizens? Let’s reward participation (and punish lack of it): If you want a voice in the primaries *next* time, then vote *this* time.

I would further propose 5 sets of primaries with 10 states in each.

Finally, let’s experiment in the primaries with instant runoffs (you vote for your first, second and third choice) and a “none of the above” option (abstaining, if you prefer). I’d love to see the totals for “none of the above” in any election. mjh

A race to the start | Dallas Morning News by Carl P. Leubsdorf

“This might be the last gasp of the current system,” says veteran Democratic activist Mark Siegel. “The question is: What are the parties going to do about it?”

To do something, they’d have to start by spring. Republicans set their rules four years ahead, so next September’s Republican National Convention would have to approve any 2012 changes. The Democrats can wait, but, ultimately, both parties have to agree.

In the first sign that something might actually happen, a top Republican rules expert said this week that GOP officials hope to push approval next year of the so-called Delaware plan. It divides the states into four groups by size and schedules primaries and caucuses at one-month intervals, starting in early March with the smallest ones and ending with the 12 biggest, including Texas.

It is designed to keep the nomination fight open until the big states vote, making more states meaningful players and taking away the advantage the best-known, most heavily funded candidates now have. Lesser-known hopefuls would be able to become contenders with strong showings in smaller, less-expensive states.

And it would prevent one of the current system’s biggest dangers, that someone could win a nomination without sufficient scrutiny.

Tom Sansonetti, who headed the GOP’s rules committee when a similar effort was blocked in 2000 by Bush strategist Karl Rove, said he expects the rules panel to discuss the Delaware plan at January’s Republican National Committee meeting.