When will this madness end?

http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2007/08/08/2942

Hmph... soon we'll be voting six years ahead of time to decide the outcome of the presidency.

~String

The madness can't end too soon. Can I have a new president now, please?

The madness can't end too soon. Can I have a new president now, please?

I'll second that. Numerous failures and national betrayals aside, the content of a president doesn't rest solely in his ability to speak in front of a crowd, but it is a bit annoying that our current leader can't finish a sentense without stumbling over the simplest expressions.

~String

The irony is that the rush to be earlier and more influential in the primary process won't help anyone. For instance, John Edwards has been focusing on Iowa because he wants the early jump in the caucuses and primaries. But this cycle is different from prior years because the heavy influence of "super" days has moved earlier in the year. People are more likely to give less influence to Iowa and New Hampshire. In prior years, if you didn't score well in those two, it was much harder to win the nomination.

It would be a better solution to bring the process back to the voters; some states have disproportional distribution of delegates in the nomination process. Get rid of that, split the delegation proportionately or else simply honor the primary and caucus votes directly. And then the people will be less likely to jump on bandwagons because the candidate has won early contests.

The way to increase your state's influence is not to rush to the front of the line, but rather to restore the integrity of the process.

"The way to increase your state's influence is not to rush to the front of the line, but rather to restore the integrity of the process."

An interesting theory but the prominence of Ethanol in the national debate and in Iowa importance, despite it's lack of real efficiency progress in fuel, belies your point.

I think having a two-year campaign for the presidency is disastrous for our Republic.

Thanks to the media, and the candidates themselves, this never-ending process now reduces ever serious political debate occurring in our country to contest of would-be candidates and their campaign apparatus. The result is Americans are already tuning out of the process. They're tired of it, and it hasn't even really started. This increases apathy and frustration.

It also undermines the current president and other elected officials, many of whom are ignored when they try to act (as "lame ducks") or consciously or subconsciously restrict their own political behavior to keep from torpedoing the candidates running in their party.

Personally, I'd like to see the campaign season shortened, but I don't see that happening anytime soon. The states all obsessed with being first, with throwing their weight around.

I can't help it. I agree with a lot of what Newt has to say...

http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/08/08/gingrich/index.html