Do British readers find the US primary system confusing? If so, they’re in good company. Most Americans don’t get it either. Far from being constitutionally mandated, it is a relatively recent phenomenon, a product of the progressive movement of the early 20th century. The individual states have established their own procedures, which accounts for the grab bag of primaries and caucuses and the variety of arcane procedures with which the candidates (and newsreaders) have had to contend.
Initially, primaries were purely advisory, and party elders often ignored the results. The first election cycle where they became formally binding was as recent as 1960, when John F Kennedy felt obliged to show the political bosses a Catholic could win Protestant votes.
The American presidency is a peculiar office, not solely governmental, but not primarily ceremonial. The best description might be “tribal.” Presidents formulate policy, but they also occupy unique psychic space in the minds of most Americans. They are the country’s public face—and it’s desirable they seem plausible in that role. So when casting your primary vote, you often heed the signals that bypass your intellect en route to the limbic system.
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