Parties Swap Roles in Upcoming Presidential Race

New York Times: “For generations, the two major political parties have taken strikingly different approaches to picking their presidential candidates: Republican primaries usually amount to coronations, in which they nominate a candidate who has run before or is otherwise deemed next in line, while the Democratic contests are often messier affairs, prone to insurgencies and featuring uncertain favorites.”

“But as the early positioning for the 2016 presidential primaries gets underway, the two parties appear to be swapping their usual roles. With former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton’s widely presumed candidacy overwhelming the Democratic field and dominating the news media’s attention, Democrats are playing the part of the royalists seeking a smooth succession. At the same time, the Republicans are acting like the Democrats of yore, anticipating a free-for-all primary that highlights the competing and at times fractious constituencies in their coalition.”