Cutting Campaign Overkill

As politicians across the country savored the swearing-in season, California Governor Ronald Reagan paused long enough to question the process that elected them. In his State of the State speech, Reagan suggested shortening the biennial spasm of campaigning by moving his state's primary from June to September. It would, as Reagan noted, save both money and the public patience. The chief stumbling block to such a plan is that delegates to presidential nominating conventions are chosen in the primary; those conventions are normally held in July and August. But if anyone takes Reagan's plan seriously enough, even those galas could be staged later--after Labor Day, at least. Pushing the whole process down the calendar might even give government officials more time to govern.

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