Somebody stop the madness!

BBC NEWS | Americas | Countdown quickens in US election

This is getting a bit ridiculous. New Hampshire, Iowa, and South Carolina should suck it up, repeal their laws, ignore their traditions, and agree with the rest of the states to hold the primaries on the same day. Perhaps sometime in April.

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"Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God."
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The next step will be to bring NH and Iowa to the end of the year before so they maintain their "first in the nation" status. I understand there is talk now that Ohio may move forward to January as well, which will thereby force both parties to accept the delegate votes of Florida, which at this point won't be counted as they broke the national Party rules. Have people forgotten that the election is still over 15 months away? If I was a voter in a state/district of a declared candidate, I'd be asking just how representative they were being of me whilst they spent most of their time over the next year on the campaign trail. Doesn't exactly leave much time for looking after the interests of the people who elected them does it?

Having the same day for primaries in all States sounds like a good idea.

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I'd counsel a 'let them play' approach at this time. This year is going to be messy and that is going to bring the issue to a proper resolution for next time.

As it stands, NH and Iowa are going to lose their special status. That much is obvious. Iowa is probably going to move to December now, which will likely make them little more significant than one of those 'straw polls'. If NH can be pushed back to December, the process will be complete and both will lose their "me first" self-importance by making them so early they lose all their influence over the xmas/newyears break.

I can't see any benefit to anyone is served by special status for Iowa and NH in the primary process. Arguably, this special status has served to promote weak candidates. Changing the system would likely get rid of that 'unintended consequence' of the NH & Iowa special status.

Special status for Iowa and NH in the US primaries is un-American in spirit. All States ought to be considered equal. I don't see how anything but a one-day primary can be considered fair to all.

This is very unlikely. Yes, Florida has broken some party rules. Do you think either party would insult the people of Florida by refusing to credential their delegates under these conditions? I don't think that's realistic.

You seem to be assuming that being a Senator is a full-time job and that all candidates are Senators.

On the flipside, there's no doubt that to have your State Senator become President is a very good way to ensure the interests of your State are well looked after in Washington. I should think this would be a good trade-off in the 'representation' aspect.