The Two-Tier Nomination Process Model

Chip Wagoner, Republican National Committeeman for Alaska, suggested a two-tier nominating process at the Republican National Committee 2000 Winter Meeting. Under this system all states would have both a primary and a caucus/convention process. All of the national convention delegates would be selected through caucuses and conventions.

Each state would also hold a primary that would not be used to select delegates, but rather to narrow the field of presidential candidates who could be nominated by the national convention delegates. In order to be eligible to be nominated by the delegates at the national convention, a presidential candidate would have to meet some minimum level of achievement. For example, he or she would have to win five state primaries, or be one of the top three finishers in total number of primary votes cast. (Brock 2000, 35)

Advantages

The Brock Commission noted:

Under this system, the national convention would become the determinative step in securing the nomination, which could serve to energize the party structure. If the nominee was not determined until the convention, the media coverage of the convention could also increase. (Brock 2000, 36)

Disadvantages

This idea adds the complexity of requiring each state to hold primaries, caucuses and conventions. It is unclear how such a system would alleviate the front-loading of the primary schedule. Even if the primaries did not select delegates, but were used only to de-select candidates, the motivations of both states and candidates would remain essentially the same. States would still be motivated to maximize their influence over the nomination process and would therefore wish to hold their primaries as early as possible. Candidates would still be motivated to win primaries, both to avoid being de-selected and because primary results would still heavily influence the selection of delegates in the caucuses and conventions.

Meanwhile, voter turnout, already far too low, would fall off dramatically if primaries were no longer binding on the selection of delegates and were diluted in importance. Candidates would campaign just as hard and spend just as much money to win primaries, for less certain results. Moreover, they would also spend money campaigning to win in the caucus/convention process. This would be a source of enormous frustration to all sides.