I am starting to think these front loaded primaries are a bad idea

Our guys looked beat tonight and their schedule aint getting any easier for a month. If these guys dont get some rest soon they are going to start making mistakes all over the place.

who don't give the FEC max to their candidates.

It is a slogfest of fundraising for the long haul that proves you can make it over Super Tuesday.

Iowa and New Hampshire were never meant to pick our nominee, they were meant to give unknown candidates a chance to get some name recognition and momentum.

What we should do is keep the window closed for about three weeks or so after New Hampshire. The hype of whoever wins Iowa and New Hampshire can't last that long.

Then we should have one primary a week for the next few weeks, gradually increasing the numbers. Then we can have Super Tuesday at say the end of April.

I haven't found anyone on DU who likes the current set-up and there are a bunch of smart people here.

not exactly, but with more time between Iowa, NH and other states.

would be better to have NH go first since they have a regular election system. The caucus system gives no assistance to the lower tiers of candidates...they might survive for a time with a regular numerical system.

An awful lot of money, energy and time were expended during the Iowa caucus.

Got to give Iowa some credit though...the results were almost immediately available. They deserve some congrats for that. Compare with the usual Florida/Ohio mishaps.

And IMO the process worked pretty well in the 1970's. We got McGovern and Carter which were exactly who owed no allegiance to the party bosses. Iowa and New Hampshire shouldn't necessarily go first, but other small states should.

Those are small states, and Delaware is certainly more diverse. :shrug:

(this was the last primary before Super Tuesday was introduced in '88 - although even '88 wasn't nearly as frontloaded as what we have now)

February 20: Iowa
February 28: New Hampshire
March 6: Vermont
March 13: Alabama (Democrats), Florida, Georgia, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, plus caucuses in Nevada, Oklahoma, Washington
March 18: Puerto Rico (Democrats)
March 20: Illinois
March 27: Connecticut (Democrats)
April 3: New York (Democrats), Wisconsin
April 10: Pennsylvania
May 1: DC, Tennessee
May 5: Louisiana, Texas (Republicans)
May 8: Maryland, North Carolina, Indiana, Ohio
May 15: Nebraska, Oregon, Idaho
June 5: California, New Jersey, Montana, New Mexico, South Dakota (Democrats), West Virginia
June 12: North Dakota

know who our nominee is going to be.

Then we have to wait 8 months for the GE.

It's going to be hell during those 8 months. All those 527 and swiftboat types. ugh.

Indeed, interestingly, this is made even MORE pronounced by the fact that no campaigning in MI and FL are being permitted -- this way the candidate that STARTS as the 'inevitable' nominee (ie HRC) has a built-in firewall, to the detriment of a successful insurgent (Obama)

With state parties going in every direction, not sure what DNC can do about it.