A lack of faith in state lawmakers to abide by the request of the national parties is ultimately what prompted the Missouri GOP to make the bombshell decision to shirk the traditional presidential primary contest in favor of a caucus system, according to a spokesman for the state Republican Party.

“When it became clear that the presidential preference primary was not going to be moved, we began exploring all our options,” said party spokesman Jonathon Prouty. “This looked like the best one.”

It was the best, according to Prouty, because it will keep the state in line with rules set forth by the Republican National Committee, insuring that all of Missouri’s delegates will be seated at the national nominating convention next year.

To spread out the various nominating contests across the country and preserve the influence of traditional first-in-the-nation states like New Hampshire and Iowa, the RNC had threatened to not seat Missouri’s delegates if the state did not move its presidential primary from February to March.

But changing the primary date requires action by the state legislature – action that has been unsuccessful so far in the General Assembly. Proposals to move the primary date have been vetoed by the governor and run into stiff opposition from state Senators who argue that the national parties are trying to limit Missouri’s influence by pushing them back later in the nominating process.

The legislature was scheduled to make one more attempt at moving the primary date during the current special session. But legislative leaders have said they won’t take up the proposal before an agreement is reached on the jobs bill at the heart of the special session – a doubtful prospect at this time.

Prouty said that rather than waiting for the legislature to take action and risk having no say in who the Republican presidential nominee will be next year, the state party decided to modify its own rules in a way that renders the primary election meaningless.

“Very little has changed here,” Prouty said. “The change in the call to convention, in essence, unbound the delegates from the presidential preference primary.”

Prouty said a caucus system already exists within the party, at the local and state level, to determine the actual men and women who will serve as delegates at the convention. In the past, the way these delegates voted on the convention floor was determined by the results of the primary election. That will no longer be the case, after the GOP’s decision. The way delegates vote will now be determined solely through the caucus process.

“It retains our delegate strength and our influence in the national nominating process and that’s been our goal all along,” Prouty said.
FROM MISSOURI NEWS HORIZON

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