Reid: Primary calendar 'fundamentally flawed'
WASHINGTON (AP) - June 11, 2008 Reid, D-Nev., made the remarks last Sunday at a private
fundraiser in Oakland County, Mich., for Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich.,
according to three people in attendance. Reid credited Levin and
other Michigan Democrats for challenging the primary calendar and
said he would work with them to seek improvements while maintaining
Nevada's role in the process.
Reid told the group of about 50 Democrats in Farmington Hills,
Mich., that Iowa and New Hampshire were unrepresentative of the
rest of the nation. "The process as it is now is fundamentally
flawed," Reid told the donors, according to those in attendance.
"There was a clear recognition that the system as it exists
today is flawed and it needs to be fixed and I came away with a
commitment to fix it," said David Woodward, an Oakland County
commissioner who asked Reid about the primary calendar.
"It was a much stronger response than I was expecting," he
said.
Publicly, Reid has said he supports looking into changes to the
primary process and said last week that Sen. Dianne Feinstein,
D-Calif., who chairs the Senate Rules Committee, would review a
potential regional primary system. "The present system is very
difficult," Reid told reporters last week.
Reid has previously criticized the influence of New Hampshire
and Iowa in determining the party's nominee.
Reid spokesman Jim Manley said Wednesday that the senator's
"goal will continue to be to protect Nevada's role in the
electoral process."
"While he's very happy with the record number of voters and the
amazing amount of fundraising that the Democratic candidates have
enjoyed, he does think there are some problems that need to be
addressed," Manley said.
Michigan and Florida moved up their contests to protest the
party's decision to allow Iowa and New Hampshire to go first,
followed by South Carolina and Nevada.
Michigan and Florida had some of their delegates stripped by the
Democratic National Committee for moving up their primaries. Under
a compromise reached last month, party leaders agreed to seat the
delegates with half votes at this summer's convention.