Explain the concept of front-loading primary election.

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Answers will vary. Traditionally, states have held their presidential primaries at various times over the first six months of a presidential election year. In an effort to make their primaries prominent in the media and influential in the political process, however, many states moved the date of their primary to earlier in the year-a practice known as front-loading. In 1988, a group of southern states created a "Super Tuesday" by holding their primaries on the same day in early March. Then, other states moved their primaries to an earlier date, too.?The practice of front-loading primaries gained momentum during the first decade of the twenty-first century. The states with later primary dates found that most nominations were decided early in the season, leaving their voters "out of the action." This rush to be first was particularly notable in the year or so preceding the 2008 presidential primaries.?Many Americans worried that with a shortened primary season, long-shot candidates would no longer be able to propel themselves into serious contention by doing well in small early-voting states, such as New Hampshire and Iowa.