Reply #39: This is an indication of how screwed up this all is.

[longship]

You said: "Super Tuesday is going to be held on February 5th this year." Actually it's *next* year. So, again. I'll ask the question, "Where's the damned fire?"

I would also argue that if the candidates weren't in permanent campaign mode they wouldn't need to raise so damned much money.

I like your idea of moving all the primaries back as that is clearly part of the problem. However, I would go much further. I would have the primary season begin after Summer's start, into July, or even August.

Why in the Sam Hell do we need two fucking years to select a leader when virtually none of the rest of the world does it that way? It's stupid to do it this way.

I say, bring back the smoke-filled rooms. Eliminate the primaries and put in a caucus system like that in Iowa. Schedule the caucuses in late summer so that candidates can form their committees in the spring of election year. They would basically have the summer to commune with the delegates in the various states. Scheduling the caucuses would be another matter. We'd want to minimize any one state's or region's influence on the process. (I've always found it astounding that two of the smallest states, Iowa and New Hampshire, have such a disproportional influence.)

Others may have different, better ideas.

Something like this is doable. There's only the will to do it. The current system is a fucking mess. It *has* to be changed.