Because the extremists from both parties control the primaries, and that is the fault of the more moderate voters who tend to sit out the primaries.
People get mad and call me names when I say this, but the current primary system is producing worse and worse candidates. We had a far higher quality of people to vote for prior to the being primaries and party elites chose the candidates.
Well, I would just say, “What do you expect?” We let two rural and, lets face it, almost inconsequential states largely determine the candidates that we get to vote for in the Spring of an election year. I can’t believe it took this long for some to understand the weaknesses of that plan. What I think we should do is this.
Have regional primaries--essentially 5 “Super Tuesdays” from January to May. I’m partial to starting in the South or the West in January so that the temperatures are more moderate but start anywhere you want and rotate them every 4 years.
January X, 2028. ME, NH, VT, MA, RI, CT, NY, PA, NJ, DE vote.
February X, 2028. HI, AK, WA, OR, CA, ID, NV, AZ, UT, WY, MT, vote
March X, 2028. ND, SD, MN, NE, NM, TX, CO, NE, KS, OK vote.
April X, 2028, FL, GA, AL, MS, LA, TN, SC, NC, VA, WV vote
May X, 2028, MI, OH, MN, WI, IL, IA, MO, AR, KY IN vote (along with any others that had to postpone due to weather).
Let 10 states determine who stays in and who goes home. Mix the states up between large and small, urban and rural, demographically diverse electorates. We have candidates camping out in one state for months at a time, having to fly out to Nevada for a primary then back to South Carolina for the next contest. Its nuts.