Nation Moving Towards National Primary...

...And not in any formal or planned fashion. Florida is now among some of the large states that are moving to diminish the influence of two small states. Check out this article:

If Democratic Gov. Eliot Spitzer signs the primary date legislation — which would bump the contest up four weeks from its expected March 4 date — the giant of the Northeast will join California, the nation’s most populous state, and more than a dozen other states in perhaps the busiest single presidential primary day in history.

Florida, another heavily populated state, is fast-tracking legislation that would switch its primary to an even earlier date, Jan. 29, even though that would violate scheduling rules set by both the Democratic and Republican national committees. These moves collectively threaten to take some of the luster off the traditional first-in-the-nation nominating events, the Iowa caucuses (currently slated to go on Jan. 14) and the New Hampshire primary (projected for Jan. 22).

Because New Hampshire and Iowa have selfishly denied political parties the chance to reshape the primary season so that a logical and coherent selection process can be delibarative and reasonable, big states are now throwing their weight around. Here is the problem, only the well connected have the resources to take on the monumental task of going coast to coast. Our presidential electoral system is evolving spasmatically and around money. A system that will value policy, debate and reason over money and schmoozing must be set in place. This is no longer a debate for political scientists, but for politicians. This process needs some leadership. Will the Democratic Party, who is the only party showing leadership on this issue, going to simply allow this continue or take control and set forth a process that will allow this country to competently pick its leader?