This is based on 43 states being considered "non-negotiable" and "set in stone" while only 7 are considered "swing" states
Also consider I specified "voters", who are at best only 2/3 of the total population, which leaves out about 100 million extra people
Okay that’s a good point actually. Maybe they should just be in order of population from smallest to biggest? That way anyone could win until pretty late in the thing and every state might actually matter
I think that still runs into the problem of the first state being like really conservative. I think if ur looking to like change the system as little as possible and improve the primary a bit maybe you could find like a low population state that also leans heavily in your favor typically in the general and start there? That way its a small test run election with your actual base. Or maybe do like city primaries? Like NYC, LA, etc have their own primary elections, party sponsored events where all the candidates get to speak, and then broadcast them nationally. Then do a big national primary a few weeks or months later?
But tbh i think the main issue is that the primaries atleast for the dems are generally just rigged anyway. Youve got like super delegates, and back door deals to stop any left leaning candidates.