What a let down

Today is the Presidential Primary in Michigan and what a sad day it is. As a Democrat I will not be voting for a presidential candidate because not all the candidates are on the ballot. Michigan party leaders believe that the winning candidate will eventually demand that delegates from Michigan and Florida (also punished this year) be counted at the convention. However, not all the Democratic Candidates are on the ballot. Democratic candidates John Edwards, Barack Obama, Bill Richardson and Joe Biden withdrew their names from the ballot to satisfy Iowa and New Hampshire who were unhappy that Michigan and Florida moved up their primaries.

So here is my solution to this whole problem and all the crap that comes with which state gets to hold their primary first (don't even get me started on the problems with caucuses). Hold all the primaries around the country at the same time. This will eliminate the battle over who goes first and take power away from a couple of states. It also prevents people in states who have the later primaries from being influenced by the outcome of early primaries.

The primary should be held in April (after taxes are due), this gives candidates time to campaign, but still ends in time for the winning candidate on each side to campaign for the November election. It just seems that like so many other parts of our election process, primaries are poorly run and should be changed.