I heard yesterday that Karl Rove (definitely NOT on my list of favorite politicians) has recently asserted the nation was better served when the presidential candidates were selected in a cigar smoke filled room at the party national conventions than it has been under today's primary system.
When was that? I always thought the American primaries process was in your Constitution.
It may well be, but if so it's not mandatory.
Up to a point, most states did not run primaries and nobody ever came to the convention as "The Candidate", but at some point the states began jumping on the bandwagon to the point where the ultimate candidate now only rarely gets to the convention without enough first ballot delegates to clinch the nomination.
