Caucus This!

Well, the American Silly Season is upon us. That's right, it's party primary time.

God, this ritual has become so stupid.

For any of you goddamn foreigners reading this, here is how it works. To get the D or R nomination for president, candidates go from state to state winning votes and amassing delegates. The candidate with the most delegates wins.

Tonight the first primary, or caucus is in Iowa. Iowa only became important because in 1976, Jimmy Carter, the then unknown governor of Georgia placed 2nd behind 'no preference'. From then on its been a race to see who can win Iowa and then New Hampshire.

I swear, half the problem with American politics is the primary system. No one is actually trying to win votes anymore. Rather they are trying to win the news cycle where a primary or caucus win builds momentum and shows inevitability.  After Iowa and New Hampshire comes South Carolina, where both party establishments have built political firewalls in case the hand-picked guy loses the first two. This worked for Bob Dole in '96 and W. in 2000.

Changing the nomination process would go a long way, I think, toward making American politics less stupid. Nix Iowa and New Hampshire. Instead of these patchworks of primaries have a regionals like the Southern Primary or the California Primary, etc. Make it an actual election on not this stupid media momentum circus.

I've never picked the winner myself, having voted for Paul Tsongas, John McCain, Mitt Romney (08) and Ron Paul (why not?).

If you must know, I'm a Rubio man. Kiss of death, right?