PROGRESS – AT 12:18 P.M. ET:  From what I can see, the Republican National Committee is making steady progress in improving the party's prospects on election day.  The party's procedures are being restructured to reduce friction, suppress chaos and allow good candidates to come forward and secure nominations without going through a 20-debate meat grinder.  From The New York Times: 

MEMPHIS — The Republican National Committee moved Friday to seize control of the presidential primary debates in 2016, another step in a coordinated effort by the party establishment to reshape the nominating process.

Committee members overwhelmingly passed a measure that would penalize any presidential candidate who participated in a debate not sanctioned by the national party, by limiting their participation in subsequent committee-sanctioned forums.

The move represents the party’s effort to reduce the number of debates and assert control over how they are staged.

In making the case for adopting the new rule, party officials repeatedly criticized the moderators and format of the 2012 primary debates, appealing to the suspicions that many Republican activists have about the mainstream news media. “The liberal media doesn’t deserve to be in the driver’s seat,” said the committee’s chairman, Reince Priebus, addressing committee members here at their spring meeting.

Such rhetoric makes taking over the debates easier to sell to the committee’s more conservative members. But what party leaders are principally concerned about is reducing the number of debates to avoid a repeat of the 2012 campaign when a series of insurgent candidates used the forums — 20 in all — to draw attention to their candidacies. Some party leaders say they believe that the number of debates pushed Mitt Romney to the right in a way that contributed to his loss to President Obama.

COMMENT:  The 2012 Republican primary race wore out the candidates before the general-election campaign even got started.  The new changes are good.  Priebus has been an excellent chairman, and understands that the name of the game is win, not just participate.

May 10, 2014