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Primaries & Endorsements blog
From Smoke-Filled Rooms to Prime Time Republican Conventions in Dated StepsA dated tour of Republican national conventions from 1856 to 2024, showing how the convention went from choosing the nominee to staging a four-night show.How Republicans Pick Nominees from Party Bosses to Primaries and CaucusesHow the nominating system grew from reforms, accidents and state law, from Wisconsin in 1903 to calendar fights, and the case for and against change.Three first-time candidates, three races, and how each spends the first yearA school board seat, a city ward and a state house district ask different things. Three hypothetical candidates show the votes, hours and dollars each takes.The 1976 Kansas City Convention and the Last Real Fight Over the NominationFord beat Reagan by a few dozen delegates in 1976, and the closing night belonged to the man who lost; here is how the last open convention played out.Mr. Republican Robert Taft lost the nomination three times, yet won the partyTaft entered three Republican conventions and left each without the prize, but his ideas ran the party for a generation. Here is his record, fairly told.Why every Republican owes the primary election a vote, every timeIn a safe district the primary is the real election, and the few who show up pick the nominee for everyone who stayed home. Here is the arithmetic.Taft, Roosevelt and the Convention Fight That Split the Party in 1912Taft and Roosevelt together out-polled Woodrow Wilson in 1912 and still lost. How a convention fight handed the White House to the other side.Running for local office, the first thirty days, step by stepFirst-time candidates lose month one to enthusiasm, not paperwork. A grouped checklist with a reason for each item and a calendar worked back from Election Day.How delegates are chosen and what they really do at a national conventionA delegate casts the vote that nominates a president, and the path runs through ordinary precincts. Bound and unbound, winner-take-all, 1976, and how to run.Caucus, primary or convention, how Republicans actually pick a nomineePrimary, runoff, caucus and convention all choose Republican nominees, but they reward different candidates and different volunteers. Here is the table.Three Ballots in the Wigwam and How Lincoln Beat the Favorite in 1860Abraham Lincoln was nobody's first choice in Chicago in May 1860. Here is how he became everybody's second, and why that still matters in coalition politics.The 2016 Republican Primary and How a Field of Seventeen Became OneThe largest field in party history was cut to one nominee in five months. The rules, the debates and the math explain how, and what it means for the next race.Can I vote in the Republican primary? Your registration questions answeredPlain answers to the registration questions that get voters turned away from the Republican primary, from open and closed rules to runoffs and sore-loser laws.