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Title: Where does the whole "conservative primary electorate" idea come from? Post by: Abraham Reagan on January 06, 2015, 10:08:14 PM Is this not the same electorate that chose the likes of Romney, Mccain, Bush (who was pretty moderate), and Dole? Where does that whole idea come from?
Title: Re: Where does the whole "conservative primary electorate" idea come from? Post by: Slander and/or Libel on January 07, 2015, 08:21:35 AM It's been getting more conservative over time, actually. And part of the thing is that candidates who are moderate compared to the rest of the field have had to play far to the right for purposes of winning the primary.
Beyond that, there's also the fact of, in the last primary, Romney basically outlasting everybody else. Others had their time in the limelight and flamed out for one reason or another. At the end of the dance, after trying furiously to dance with anyone else, the primary electorate was basically left with nobody but Romney to go home with. Title: Re: Where does the whole "conservative primary electorate" idea come from? Post by: Del Tachi on January 07, 2015, 12:26:21 PM I think its largely a myth.
Primary electorates, in my experience, seem to be older, whiter, and wealthier. Primary electorates are comprised of people who follow politics more closely than the average Joe, and I actually think that pushes them more towards the establishment side of the spectrum (at least in the GOP). If every single Republican had to vote in nominating contests, we'd be getting nominees like Sarah Palin and Chris McDaniel; however, Republican primary electorates are comprised of little old ladies who haven't missed a vote since 1961 and those who read WaPo - thus, we end up with Romney and Cochran. Title: Re: Where does the whole "conservative primary electorate" idea come from? Post by: Oldiesfreak1854 on January 07, 2015, 06:54:46 PM It's not a myth; the reason that "moderates" get nominated is because the conservative vote gets split between several more conservative candidates.
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