In my 2024 Dunwody Lecture, Combating Extremism, I said that among political reforms that are plausibly realistic in the short term, the one that, in my view, would make the most practical difference would be the shift to the unified primary — such as the structure currently used in Alaska. In the recent NYT’s interview of Senator Smith and former Senators Manchin and Flake, Senators Flake and Manchin, who obviously have much more immediate experience with the election process, expressed similar views. See this comment from former Senator Flake:

Flake: If you had five or six states with open-primary laws like Alaska has, that would create a whole different power structure in the Senate.

That follows this comment from former Senator Manchin:

Manchin: I’ve come to the conclusion t

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