I find it amazing how much of an impact Iowa and New Hampshire have on our presidential nominees, just because they happen to hold the first primaries. The people in those states do not even come close to representing a cross-section of our country. In an ideal world, people would make up their minds based on their own beliefs, and would not look to what others have done to choose a candidate. Unfortunately, we don't live in an ideal world.
For the record, I believe in always voting for the person you think is best, regardless of how "electable" he or she may be. If everyone did that we (and the politicians who are supposed to represent us) would have a much better idea of where the country really stands on a number of issues. It seems to me that one simple way to encourage people to do this would be for all states to hold their primaries on the same day. This would prevent people from voting based on what others have voted.
In fact, I would think that right now each state would want to be the first to hold their primary so that they could have the kind of impact that Iowa and New Hampshire do. Over time, this would naturally lead to earlier and earlier primaries, until a cap would have to be set and all states would hold their primaries on the same day. Why this has not happened yet is beyond me...
Move all primaries to the same day!
I find it amazing how much of an impact Iowa and New Hampshire have on our presidential nominees, just because they happen to hold the first primaries. The people in those states do not even come close to representing a cross-section of our country. In an ideal world, people would make up their minds based on their own beliefs, and would not look to what others have done to choose a candidate. Unfortunately, we don't live in an ideal world.
For the record, I believe in always voting for the person you think is best, regardless of how "electable" he or she may be. If everyone did that we (and the politicians who are supposed to represent us) would have a much better idea of where the country really stands on a number of issues. It seems to me that one simple way to encourage people to do this would be for all states to hold their primaries on the same day. This would prevent people from voting based on what others have voted.
In fact, I would think that right now each state would want to be the first to hold their primary so that they could have the kind of impact that Iowa and New Hampshire do. Over time, this would naturally lead to earlier and earlier primaries, until a cap would have to be set and all states would hold their primaries on the same day. Why this has not happened yet is beyond me...