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June 17, 2013

Rabbi Simcha Weinstein: Black to the Future: American Apparel Gets Biblical

Patrik Jonsson: Minnesota Nazi: How did Nazi hunters miss Michael Karkoc?

Kate Irby, Ali Watkins, Trevor Graff and Kevin Thibodeaux: All the ways you're being watched
Don Lee: G-8 meeting will test NSA leaks' effect on U.S. influence

Patrik Jonsson: Fort Hood shooting: Judge nixes Nidal Hasan defense strategy. What now?

Stacey Burling: Why the stigma for migraine sufferers?

The Kosher Gourmet by Lisa Abraham: Does it work? 5 new kitchen gadgets put to the test

June 14, 2013

Rabbi Abraham J. Twerski: A spiritual budget: Religious economics and being a ruler

John P. Martin: Hitler insider's missing diary found

Matt Pearce: NSA surveillance disclosure could affect court cases
Peter Tinti: US bounties changes strategy on (Wild, Wild) West African jihadis

Daniel Pendrick, M.D.: Memory loss? Old age may be the least of it

Lauren F. Friedman: But it's all natural! Should we have an instinctive preference for herbal remedies?

Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom : Streisand and Alicia Keys in Israel; "Girls" Stuff; Mel Brooks, Another TV special; Superman (who is Jewish) returns --- Israeli plays his mom

The Kosher Gourmet by Sharon K. Ghag : Bored with salad? Bling it up a bit (4 effortless recipes that will result in a 'WOW!')

June 12, 2013

Stephanie Hanes: Little girls or little women? The Disney princess effect

Fred Weir: In tweak to US, Russia would 'consider' asylum for Snowden

Sharon Palmer, R.D.: What's so special about Omega-3 supplements?
Morgan Housel: What newspapers were saying when you should have been buying

Pete Spotts: How cockroaches evolved so as to bypass 'roach motels'

The Kosher Gourmet by Anjali Prasertong: Deep-dish cookie: Warm, gooey and a little over the top

June 10, 2013

Joseph A. Slobodzian: Faith healing and third degree murder: Thorny legal case
Lindsay Wise: Few options for online users to avoid spying, experts say

Sharon Palmer, R.D.: There are plenty of nutritional food bargains out there
Harvard Health Letters: Can bariatric surgery control diabetes?

Zach Murdock: Superglue helps doctors save infant's life

The Kosher Gourmet by Celebrated chef Mario Batali : As good as grilling gets: Rib eye with dry mushroom spice rub

June 7, 2013

Rabbi David Aaron: Beating jealousy

Caroline B. Glick: Wounded . . . and dangerous

Clifford D. May: Al Qaeda vs. Hezbollah
Harvard Health Letters: Fighting back against allergy season

Kimberly Lankford: Grandparents who use FSA to cover grandkid's braces and other must-know info

Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom:J ewish Tony Nominees/Tony Awards; Jewish Teen Actor In Sci-Fi Flick; Jewish singer in "Voice" finals

The Kosher Gourmet by Anjali Prasertong: A tart filling so good it might not make it to the crust

June 5, 2013

John Rosemond: Mom, Dad: Talk More and listen less

Kristen Chick: Egypt court sentences 43 pro-democracy workers to prison

Sharon Palmer, R.D.: Mushrooms Have Medicinal As Well As Culinary Value
Morgan Housel: Why you never learn from your investment mistakes

Don Lee: In China, kindergarten rivalry takes deadly turn

The Kosher Gourmet by Sara Kate Gillingham-Ryan: 30-Minute Coq au Vin isn't a dream

June 3, 2013

Molly Hennessy-Fiske: Military judge to consider letting Fort Hood shooting defendant represent himself

Richard A. Serrano: Pvt. Bradley Manning's WikiLeaks trial also a test for government

Mark Trumbull: Have degree, driving cab: Nearly half of college grads are overqualified
Kim Lankford: What to do when long-term care insurance premiums rise

Deborah Netburn: Study: Adults' mouth bacteria may help babies

Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom: Jewish Contestant on 'The Voice'; Will Smith's 'Jewish movie family'; Bravo Gives Long Island Jews the Jersey Shore Treatment; Magicians and More

The Kosher Gourmet by Bill Ward: How to be as refined as the wines at a wine tasting

May 29, 2013

Andrew Connelly and Helene Bienvenu: The Little Synagogue that Refused to Die

Dennis Prager: The 'Muslims-Killed-by-the-West' Lie

David Clark Scott: Open war on teachers?
Morgan Housel: If you know only five things about investing, make it these

Sara Reardon: AGenome detectives change the donation game

Deborah Netburn: A one-way ticket to Mars? 78,000-plus and counting apply by video

The Kosher Gourmet by Bev Bennett: CHEDDAR AND CHERRY MUFFINS --- your mouth is already watering

May 24, 2013

Rabbi Tzvi Hersh Weinreb: When I didn't so 'humbly disagree'

Caroline B. Glick: Thank you, Hafez al-Assad

Diana West: From the Brooklyn Bridge to London
Morgan Housel: Why spotting bubbles is so much harder than you think

Environmental Nutrition editors: NuVal labeling to the rescue?

Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom : Memorial Day: Jews Serving and KIA in War on Terror; Liberace Bio-Pic; Jew Wins "Survivor"; Shalom, Dr. Brothers; More

The Kosher Gourmet by Emma Christensen: HIDE THESE FROZEN TREATS FROM THE KIDDIES!: Sangria pops; Irish cream pudding pops; mango Lassi pops

May 22, 2013

John Thorne: They launched the 'Arab Spring' but now yearn for the good old days of a strongman

John Rosemond: 'Disciplinary math' adds up to parental successl

Warren Richey: Are prayers before public meetings OK? Supreme Court to decide
Rick Montgomery: Use of ADHD drugs as study aid raises concern on campuses

Brierley Wright, M.S., R.D.: 6 convincing reasons you should keep carbs in your diet

Eoin O'Carroll: Scientists examine nothing, find something

The Kosher Gourmet by Carole Kotkin: This soup is made from one of the great pleasures of spring: A wonderful pairing of rosy color and earthy tang

May 20, 2013

Richard A. Serrano: Is Meir Kahane's assassin now a changed man?

Hannan Adely: Town raises Palestinian flag at City Hall

Melissa Healy: Genetic copies of living people from embryos no longer science fiction
Morgan Housel: When smart investors do stupid things

Sharon Saloman, M.S., R.D.: Hunger games: Eat more, weigh less, without starving

Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom : Jews Inducted into Rock Hall of Fame; Anton Yelchin co-stars in New "Trek" film; Kutcher (but not Kunis) visits Israel; Jewish TV Star Praises Jewish Rap Star

The Kosher Gourmet by Cathy Pollak: WARNING: This WALNUT CAKE WITH PRALINE FROSTING, perfect for afternoon coffee, is addicting


Jewish World Review May 2, 2007 / 14 Iyar 5767

The primary experiment

By Mort Zuckerman

Mort Zuckerman
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http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | We are already well into one of the most wide-open presidential races in history, even though it's still 19 months before the big day in 2008. This will be the first time in 80 years without an incumbent president or vice president in the primaries. But an even more critical uncertainty is the new primary calendar. It imposes a major change in our democracy that many consider reckless.


In the cycle of primaries we got used to, both Republican and Democratic candidates were effectively chosen by the end of Super Tuesday in March. Voters in states with late primaries felt they had been given short shrift. So last year, the Democrats moved two voting days-those for Nevada and South Carolina-up near the front of the line and then decreed that no other state could hold a primary before February 5.


The Republicans did the same. Hence the stampede to get to the front of the line. To date, at least 22 states have moved their primary to the first allowable date on the calendar, February 5, including nine of the big states such as California, Florida, New York, New Jersey, and Illinois, representing over 60 percent of Americans.


The resulting megaprimary is the opposite of the small-town-style politics characteristic of Iowa and New Hampshire. February 5 will now become Super-Duper-or Mega-Tuesday. An overall winner would most likely have a stranglehold on the nomination.


Seismic shift. What does this mean for our democracy? Nobody knows. What we do know is that this is virtually an informal constitutional amendment. To have a prayer of winning Super-Duper Tuesday, candidates are going to need full-fledged national operations cranking away by this fall. The window of opportunity for late-starting insurgents has all but closed. It will be impossible for any individual to campaign before 130 million-plus people in the one week between the South Carolina primary and Mega Tuesday. Since they can't communicate their qualifications, character, and policies to millions of people in widely scattered states, their campaigns will need more big money for the 30-second commercials that will have to substitute for handshaking and question answering. Voters will get carefully managed themes but much less in the way of policy solutions or even personality. A dark horse, even with a solid showing in one of the earlier contests, cannot prevail without an overwhelming amount of money and charisma to appeal to people in 22 states.


The voters in the big states and the whims of the big fundraisers look as if they will dominate this new process. Certainly, the old system of partial public financing, with its spending controls, is now obsolete-and so, too, is the chance for voters to see the candidates' character and endurance tested over a long period, in different states, and in different circumstances.


This does not mean the outcomes in Iowa and New Hampshire are unimportant. They will still provide momentum, even to dark horses. But the megaprimary has made it harder for all but the top-tier contenders to gain enough political oxygen and money to be competitive.


If perchance no decisive result emerges from February 5, the states voting later could become the new kingmakers. Further, a fragmented result on February 5 and thereafter could even lead to a brokered convention in the summer-back to the smoke-filled rooms of the '20s!


Many believe this new system is political madness. The National Association of Secretaries of State, whose members oversee elections, has proposed that Iowa and New Hampshire go first, followed by four regional primaries every month, from March through June, with the regions to rotate their positions every four years. The purpose is to spread the primaries out and give the people a longer chance to review the candidates and to avoid the boredom of a candidate being selected nine months before the election.


The opposite view is that the megaprimary means that the candidates would be tested by much broader electorates in the major states, with their higher ratios of urban, diversified voters more representative of the country at large than, say, Iowa or New Hampshire. A man of little experience and talent, such as Jimmy Carter, would no longer emerge as his party's nominee because of success in the January Iowa primary. Again, in 2004, John Kerry effectively won the nomination with his victory over Howard Dean. And we are set to avoid the effect of the February New Hampshire primary of 2000, which ended the campaign between Al Gore and Bill Bradley, and the South Carolina primary, which ended the battle between George W. Bush and John McCain.


Everything is up in the air. The only thing that can be said for sure is that nobody can safely predict how the new process will affect the outcome.

Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in in the media and Washington consider "must-reading". Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.

JWR contributor Mort Zuckerman is editor-in-chief and publisher of U.S. News and World Report. Send your comments to him by clicking here.

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