Republicans Ponder Alternatives To Front-Loaded Primary Season

“Super Tuesday” and New Hampshire’s first-in-the-nation primary would be scrapped under various scheduling reforms being considered by a Republican National Committee task force.

At a hearing timed to coincide with Thursday’s meeting of GOP state chairmen, Republicans wrestled with several alternatives to the presidential nominating system that resulted this year in early and tightly bunched primaries.

Texas chairman Tom Pauken advocated eliminating the grouping of states in “Super Tuesday” and “Junior Tuesday” balloting, which he said rendered later contests irrelevant.

This year, Bob Dole had the Republican nomination sewn up before nearly half the states had even voted. And Colorado College political science professor Robert D. Loevy warned the task force that without national scheduling rules, states rushing to be first would pile up in one national primary.

After the morning hearing, RNC chairman Haley Barbour cautioned reporters that any change imposed nationally is still far off, given that all 50 states and both major parties would have to agree.