clown-car primary

plural clown-car primaries

1. USderogatorygovernmentA primary election with a large number of serious candidates, usually more than four, making it possible that the winner will have been chosen by only a small portion of the electorate.

   Two Months into Republicans' Clown Car Primary, WSJ/NBC Poll Finds Voters Turning against the GOP - Again [title]

   2012 March 5, Jon Ponder, “Two Months into Republicans' Clown Car Primary, WSJ/NBC Poll Finds Voters Turning against the GOP - Again”, in Pensito Review, archived from the original on 11 Jun 2012

   2 more examples

   The Republicans held a clown-car primary in 2012 with a dozen debates where their credo of hewing to the party line (more conservative than thou) prevented any candidate from emerging looking presidential.

   2015, Michael Page, This Is Your Government On Drugs, Xlibris Corporation, page 282

   They can shake their heads over the seething anger in the Republican electorate, but this nasty and never-ending "clown car primary" is a problem of their own creation.

   2016, Joshua Holland, “Big GOP Donors Are to Blame for Their Party's Clown-Car Primary”, in The Nation, archived from the original on 19 Oct 2016