Personally I think the current primary system is flawed in the respect that what if voters in say Montana wanted to vote for someone other than Obama or Clinton ... or even McCain? They can't because voters in earlier states have already forced other candidates out. Some of those candidates may have done well in states that held primaries at a later time. I think the suggestion in the OP is not a bad one. I still think there's flaws, but certainly less than the current system.