With the holidays passed, Illinois voters in both the Democratic and Republican parties will be turning their attention to their presidential pick for the February 5, 2008 primaries . . .or, at least, the candidate they think they're picking.
We say "think they're picking," because in Illinois, the two major parties have a distinctly different presidential nomination approaches: the Democratic rank-and-file tell their party delegates who to support at the national convention and on the Republican side, those delegates elected on Super Duper Tuesday will tell the Republican rank-and-file who they will support.
See, it is confusing. . .
Both parties will have presidential delegates on the February 5 primary ballot. Each of the 19 Illinois congressional districts has its own slate of delegates for each party. The number of delegates chosen is determined by individual party rules.
Those voters requesting Democratic ballots February 5 will choose which of the presidential candidates the state's delegates will support at this summer's Democratic National Convention. The delegates representing Illinois Democrats are determined by who the Democratic primary's winner is, in other words, a "winner-takes-all" system.
Illinois election law puts it this way for the Democrats:
Under the provisions of the Illinois Delegate Selection Plan for the 2008 Democratic National Convention, the “Illinois presidential primary election is a ‘binding’ primary. Accordingly, delegate and alternate positions shall be allocated so as to fairly reflect the expressed presidential (or uncommitted) preference of the primary voters in each district.
On the other hand, Republicans will select the delegates they want representing them at the national convention in August. Those choices may be made based on whom the candidate prefers (indicated by the preferred candidate's name attached to his or hers on the ballot) or on the delegate candidate himself or herself.
Most campaigns look for delegates whose names are well-known and well-respected in the district which boosts GOP voter confidence. Often, those names include elected officials or long-time party leaders. While running for delegate would seem to be the perfect place to launch new talent and get voters acquainted with fresh faces, notoriety often aces energy.
The Republican rank-and-file simply advises their delegates who their presidential choice is, rather than select the delegates based on the state's primary winner, as the Democrats do. The GOP presidential primary choice is a suggestion to their elected delegates; the Republican presidential primary is nothing more than a beauty contest.
Here's the way Illinois law puts it:
A vote for President of the United States, is for the sole purpose of securing an expression of the sentiment and will of the party voters with respect to candidates for nomination for said office, and the vote of the State at large is considered as advisory to the delegates and alternates at large to the National Conventions; and the vote of the respective congressional districts is considered advisory to the delegates and alternates of said congressional districts to the National Convention.
So, the GOP delegates have more leeway and responsibility in decision-making and determining whether they will heed the advise of the rank-and-file, especially if a presidential candidate releases his delegates in early convention nomination ballots. To whom would that delegate flock if his or her favorite drops out? What happens then will be determined by the delegate's own volition. That makes a GOP delegate's motivating issues all the more important to the eventual outcome.
Over the next week or so, Illinois Review will be going through each presidential candidate's delegate slate, looking at who the state leaders of the individual campaign teams are, and what that means February 5. We're not going to know everyone listed on the slates, and we are eager to provide as much information as possible about each person on the ballot, so please help us fill in blanks.
The decisions made on February 5 as to party delegates could have a great deal of importance if things get exciting at the 2008 Republican Convention.
