[Iowa-dx] FW: Beyond Iowa to "Super Stupid Tuesday" -- Interviews Available

[Hart, Holly J]

________________________________________
From: Institute for Public Accuracy [dcinstitute@igc.org]
Sent: Friday, January 04, 2008 11:44 AM
To: Institute for Public Accuracy
Subject: Beyond Iowa to "Super Stupid Tuesday" -- Interviews Available

Institute for Public Accuracy
915 National Press Building, Washington, D.C. 20045
(202) 347-0020 * http://www.accuracy.org * ipa@accuracy.org
___________________________________________________

        Friday, January 4, 2008

        Beyond Iowa to "Super Stupid Tuesday"

        Interviews Available

ROB RICHIE, (301) 270-4616, (240) 393-2420, rr@fairvote.org,
http://fairvote.org
    Executive director of FairVote, Richie said today: "The Iowa
caucuses showcased two principles of voting not available to many in the
U.S. despite their common use around the world: proportional
representation and second choice, 'instant runoff' balloting.
    "[In this case] proportional representation meant that the delegates
were awarded relative to the number of voters supporting a candidate
above the 15 percent threshold. This will be a big issue, particularly
on the Republican side, as most of their primaries after Iowa are
winner-take-all; this means you could have someone who is nowhere near a
majority in terms of votes from citizens getting a majority of delegates
on the Republican side. The Democrats have proportional representation
for all of their contests.
    "The Democratic side in Iowa had second-choice voting. If a
candidate didn't get 15 percent in the initial tally, their supporters
got to go to their second choice. Of course some of these candidates
might have done better on initial preferences if the media and prior
polls hadn't relegated them to second-tier status.
    "This isn't the case on the Republican side. This means that minor
candidates on the Republican side seem to get more votes than minor
candidates on the Democratic side, but at least backers of those
Democrats didn't waste their vote -- they moved to their favorite viable
candidate and helped them win more delegates.
    "More broadly, Iowa and the early primaries highlight the need --
and real opportunity -- for reform of our electoral system. All states
should have a chance to have a meaningful role in nominations -- a
reform within reach if the parties take action. All Americans should
have an equal vote in general elections, something we can win by 2012 if
more states pass the National Popular Vote plan -- which just cleared
the New Jersey legislature Thursday. All voters should have the 'second
choice' power of instant runoff voting so that we don't have 'spoiled'
elections when more than two candidates run -- and a dozen cities have
passed instant runoff voting since 2004."

STEVEN HILL, (415) 665-5044, hill@newamerica.net,
http://www.newamerica.net/people/steven_hill
    Hill is director of the political reform program at the New America
Foundation and author of the books "10 Steps to Repair American
Democracy" and "Fixing Elections: The Failure of America's Winner Take
All Politics." His latest piece is "A Better Way to Conduct Presidential
Primaries."
    Hill said today: "Iowa gives us a picture of candidate strength, but
we should not underestimate the 842 so-called 'superdelegates' that Bill
Clinton is lining up for his wife.
    "On Tuesday, February 5, a total of 24 states are scheduled to hold
their primary elections on a single day. These states include some of
our largest and most delegate-rich states, such as California, New York,
Illinois, Georgia, New Jersey and others. Together these two dozen
states hold enough delegates to nearly decide the presidential
nomination all by themselves.
    "Having a single primary day with so many states should be called
Super Stupid Tuesday, because it gives great advantage to those
candidates with the most campaign cash and name recognition to compete
in so many states simultaneously. It creates a virtual wealth primary in
which new presidential faces will be quickly eliminated."

For more information, contact at the Institute for Public Accuracy:
Sam Husseini, (202) 347-0020, (202) 421-6858; or David Zupan, (541) 484-916=
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