Turn of Phrase - The Long Primary To Nowhere

"Bottom line: for a long primary process to reveal diamonds in the rough, the diamonds actually have to be there in the rough for the revealing."

- From writer Noah Millman, commenting in American Conservative magazine on the absence of genuinely exciting Republican candidates.

For both Republicans and Democrats, the long primary process serves a multitude of purposes. Like professional sports playoffs, the primary system is intended to be a proving ground that highlights and exploits the strengths and weaknesses of participants, while simultaneously affording them the opportunity to sharpen their skills as they advance through the process. Theoretically, the process culminates eventually in the coronation of a frontrunner who outshines the rest and who best represents the interests of his or her party. Theoretically.

As Millman points out, Republicans are doing their best to slog down the long, twisty, and rambling primary highway, but it looks more likely each day that their road may be heading nowhere.