At the risk of sounding too pedantic, something in Greg Jayne’s July 26 essay, “Parties cling to antiquated way of choosing candidates,” about our primaries is sadly overlooked — Democrats and Republicans are not branches of government; they are member-based, competing organizations that offer candidates for election. Unlike businesses, large and small, that have to pay for market research, the two parties have manipulated taxpayers into funding that research in the form of primary elections. In Washington state, as Jayne mentioned, that amounts to $11.5 million.
If an example of “effective” bipartisanship were ever needed, taxpayer-funded primaries would well suffice.
Perhaps our local business owners should petition state government for funds to evaluate their own promotions. That would cost a lot, and would probably meet a resounding bipartisan response.
Mike Kleiner
Vancouver
