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the President’s reelection efforts. The White House now is
preoccupied with Presidential primaries.
Primaries were unknown until Oregon started the first one in
1910. Support for them wavered during the next 60 years. Then,
in the 1968 Democratic Convention the Kennedy delegates
wanted more primaries. Now 35 states have them.
In the early 1970s, because of Watergate, election reform
laws appeared. They compelled the President and his staff to be
concerned about primaries. Campaign money had to be raised by
small contributions from many.
Presidential candidates had to make impressive early showings
to obtain the needed financial support from thousands of small
contributions and to qualify for additional campaign funds from the
federal government. While these reforms may have resulted in a
more open selection of candidates, they put increased importance
on primaries.
The President and his staff now turn their attention for almost
two years to reelection.
