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Yes, politics colors everything

ARKANSAS is trying to permanently join the SEC. It may even be a good idea. If the state doesn’t get lost in the shuffle among the big boys.

For sports fans out there, we refer to the SEC primary, sometimes called Super Tuesday, not the Southeastern Conference.

Arkansas lawmakers are trying to move the presidential primary from May to March, to join the likes of Texas, Tennessee, Georgia and Bama, among other states. Just as we did in 2016.

Cutting in line has its privileges. Some lawmakers think moving the primary up a few months will mean that Arkansas would have more of a say in who the national parties nominate. Why should New Hampshire and Iowa have all the fun?

The problem is that Arkansas has only six electoral college votes. Texas has 38. Florida has 29. Even Alabama has nine. The two major parties don’t align their nominating delegates exactly with the electoral college votes, but you see the difference in populations. If Arkansas is holding its presidential primary on the same day as several bigger states, this small but wonderfully political state—emphasis on small—wouldn’t be much of a prize. At least among the number-crunchers in national campaigns.

Why place Arkansas smack in the middle of the thundering herd? Do we really want to be one more snout in the trough?

Some of us would prefer a better plan: moving Arkansas a week or so before, or even after, the SEC primary. Whichever date makes Arkansas stand out. Only Vermont and Utah holding elections that day? Sign us up! But if California is in the way, let’s find another date.

We get the temptation to join other, mostly Southern states, to give a regional feel to Super Tuesday. And maybe we’re making the perfect the enemy of the good. And there are those who’ve made the case, over the years, that Super Tuesday states draw in more money. (And here some of us innocents thought we were choosing nominees for a general election, not shaking down candidates.)

Most Americans would like to continue the time-tested process of testing these future presidents state by crucial state. So the voters can talk to the candidates, judge them, and make sure the best two get to the general election. Do we really want the kind of choices the two major parties gave us last time, when the primary was over before the weather got hot?

Arkansas has been moving the presidential primary around for the last few cycles, trying to find the sweet spot. The SEC primary may end up being a good idea, even with our reservations. The trick is not to get lost in the shuffle.