Public Opinion On Primaries & Picking Candidates

Years ago, the presidential candidates for each party was chosen by only a few people -- those chosen to attend the party political conventions. We don't do that anymore. Now the candidates are chosen through a series of state primaries and caucuses, and any person who desires can be a part of that selection process. The conventions just formally ratify what the primaries/caucuses have determined -- and really are now little more than publicity events and a reward for party loyalists.

And Americans like that change that has taken place. When asked if they would prefer a convention or a primary system to chose presidential candidates, 64% said they preferred the primary/caucus system and only 14% wanted to go back to conventions to choose candidates.

But the primary/caucus system does take a long time to play out -- several months. Political junkies like myself don't mind that. We love both the build-up to that system, and the playing out of it. But a majority of Americans (54%) don't like that. They think the campaign system takes far too long (especially when you consider that campaigning starts months before the primaries and caucuses even begin).

I don't think such a thing would happen, but when given the choice of the current system or a system where all primaries would be held on the same day, about 54% (a clear majority) said they would like for all primaries/caucuses to be held on the same day. Only 22% said they preferred the current extended primary season.

All of these charts were made from information in a YouGov Poll -- done between March 2nd and 4th of a random national sample of 1,000 adults, and has a margin of error of about 4 points.