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This would be funny, if the business at hand was not serious.
The primary election process was supposed to be about candidates for each party having several months to woo voters in the various states, in various parts of the country. The theory, which made sense, was that this was the best chance for each party to field its best candidate.
That’s already been gone for a while, with the front-loading of primaries making conventions nothing more than expensive, empty pep rallies.
But now it’s even less about the candidates. It’s all about the egos of political leaders in the various states, who are acting like grade-schoolers trying to elbow their way to the front of the line.
The latest is Michigan, which is considering moving its primary to Jan. 15, which will, of course, mean that New Hampshire will move its primary to at least a week earlier than that and … you get the idea. As multiple pundits have observed, this will lead to primaries right about the time people are trying to celebrate Thanksgiving and Christmas.
So, as long as we’re making a joke out of primaries anyway, how about this modest proposal: Hold ALL the primaries just one week after the new president is inaugurated. Talk about a super-duper Tuesday. And then we’ll have just two people hectoring us, sucking up to us, making us impossible promises for the next four years.