This article was published in Spanish in Foreign Policy en Español. Keep in mind that this was written for a Spanish audience that has a lesser understanding of the American political system.
It's not enough to be charismatic, have good ideas or make electrifying speeches, if you want to become President of the United States, you must be able to mobilize votes in the right states and this takes a combination of energizing your party's base and appealing to independents. A candidate's ability to energize his or her party's base is prominently on display during the primary process, which favors candidates who do so. Once the primary is over, the chosen candidate is forced to pivot towards the center and fight for independent voters, obviously this is more challenging for candidates who won by appealing to the very extreme end of their party. This is at the heart of what is both good and the bad about the United States primary process and the current Republican presidential primary is fantastic example of this paradox: their never-ending search for the perfect candidate is weakening the future prospects of the candidates already in the field, some of whom represent the party's very best chance at capturing the White House in 2012.
Continue reading "The Republican Primary: Dysfunctional Dating" »


