The First Christmas Presidential Election: How Did This Happen?

As we finish off the last of the Thanksgiving leftovers and brace for the short sprint to the Christmas/New Year's holiday season, it's worth taking a moment to reflect on what is about to happen in the political sphere.

For the first time ever, we are going to be in the midst of intense campaigning by a slew of candidates in both parties for the Presidential nomination, right in the middle of the chaotic Holiday season.

With Iowans going to their caucuses on January 3--when many Americans are still straggling back from their holiday vacations (or at least recovering their luggage from the airlines)-- followed days later by the New Hampshire primary and then a string of other early nominating contests, Americans will have to put up with wall-to-wall political coverage during the Holidays (including four more of those insufferable and far too numerous "debates"), while those living in those early contest states will be saturated with ads that, pretty soon, will surely go negative.

Americans should rebel against this. It will take Congress to solve the problem--and with today's Congress, we're not too hopeful. But something needs to be done to push the presidential contest back where it belongs, with no voting (via caucus or primary) taking place before February of an election year.

We need some kind of balance. Yes, Iowa and New Hampshire have occupied traditional spots on the calendar and their citizens take the duty seriously. But the other side has a point, too--these are small, and not necessarily representative states. But then, what state is truly representative?

Florida? Give us a break. The thought of entrusting Florida, with all its electoral problems, to do the early nominating makes us sick. In any event, Florida is hardly a microcosm of the the U.S. Michigan? Not representative either.

Some have floated the idea of regional primaries, rotating them on the calendar so that no one region is always first. Interesting idea, but don't hold your breath.

We suggest this: keep it simple. Have Congress decree that no contest for selecting delegates can occur before February 15 of the year in which the general Presidential election is held. Then, let the states all duke it out and tumble all over each other. The result might be a national primary on February 15, which would be a shame--but would still beat what we're having now.