The other presidential election

Pakistanis may be taking a certain, but of necessity vicarious, pleasure, in the presidential election that has come upon them, but it is almost surely not as important to the world that the USA also has an election year.

But while this has only been made an election year because Pervez Musharraf chose to resign rather than face a long-drawn impeachment process borrowed from the USA itself, that this would be an American election year was carved in stone when their constitution was adopted over two centuries ago. Pakistan was not due for a presidential election until 2012, Musharraf having been re-elected only last year, and unlike Pakistan, a presidential resignation does not in the USA cause a fresh election, but succession by the vice-president, of which Pakistan has none.

But the American election process has been moving farther and farther, to the point where the Iowa caucuses, which take place a year before the actual presidential poll, are considered the first time that candidates actually get in touch with voters.

They are supposed to get in touch with voters some time in early October, after being nominated by their parties, but the process of party nomination has also been placed in the hands of the ordinary voter, though mostly if members of the party concerned, through a party primary process, hereby the voters elect the delegates to the national nominating convention on the basis of their pledges to vote for a particular candidate. Therefore, the parties, even where they have picked a candidate after a bitter and divisive intra-party fight, come up with candidates who have been tested all over the country for their ability to garner votes.

Obviously, it goes without saying that the candidates can in theory be anybody, but they have to win the nomination of one of the major parties first. Because though the election itself is of presidential electors committed, state by state, to vote for one or the other of the candidates, the actual voting is done by the electorate (or rather the half that does bother to vote), and thus it is useful to the party grandees to have a tested candidate.