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Primary Colors of the Rainbow

1.What's the difference between Phase 1 and Phase 2 of the primary calendar?
Phase 1 contains only 4 states and few delegates, but is at the start of the race and thus influential to the narrative. Phase 2 is very short but contains more than half the delegates, and thus is more consequential.

2. Which four states get to vote first, separated roughly into one each week?
Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada, South Carolina

3. There are few delegates available in these four states, why are the primaries so important?
There are few other contests occurring at the time, so these primaries have a lot of national attention. Thus, they can give candidates an edge in future primaries, and they also illustrate who the true top competitors are.

4. How many delegates are available in Phase 2?
More than 60% of the total pledged delegates.

5. Which regions are holding most of their primaries on Super Tuesday?
South, New England, West, and Midwest

6. How many primaries are held the following week on March 10? And how many on March 17?
7 on March 10 (Michigan, Washington, Missouri, Mississippi, Idaho, North Dakota, and those abroad); 4 on March 17 (Florida, Ohio, Illinois, Arizona)

7. What is different about the California primary this year?
CA moved up their primary date to Super Tuesday

8. Why is Phase 3 less important than 1 and 2?
Because there are so many votes in Phase 2, the winner could already be well decided by the time Phase 3 rolls around.

9. What is one argument in favor of letting Iowa and New Hampshire (small states) go first?
Allows less popular candidates to get their time in the public eye, and also allows the field narrow down.

10. How does the Democratic Party way of distributing delegates make this system even slower?
The Democrats award delegates proportionally to the votes won; this makes it more difficult for the trailing candidates to fall off or catch up, thereby drawing out the race for a long time.




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