Enfranchised in VA.

It's nice to be able to vote. It's even nicer when your vote counts, like mine now will, along with 4,571,072 other registered voters in Virginians (not to mention those in Maryland, DC, and however many more states end up enfranchised). We'll all have a say, a real say, in at least who becomes the Democratic presidential candidate. But rest assured, we have the sincere apologies of the primary-election designers for inconveniencing us with this unfortunate civic duty (read: inalienable right). Whoever they were, it surely doesn't appear that they designed the system with the aim of counting states such as mine on a regular basis. The results are often determined long before they reach us, as was expected this year. But VA, MD and DC cannot claim this sacred place at the end of the line all our own, some 22 other states have either a Democratic and/or Republican primary or caucus after today--that's round about half the country, I'll be.

Oddly enough, some people find this disconcerting, maybe even...undemocratic. Some, such as the highly-respected senior Senator from Michigan, Carl Levin, have suggested simply having four to six days or so of primaries, not far apart on the calendar. Each of those days would include a diverse mix of states in terms of size, geography, and perhaps other factors. Hey, he's got my vote. That is...if it's not decided before I get a chance to vote...

I should note, on a related topic, that I'm not sure where I fall with the recent controversy over the Democratic, and to a lesser degree, Republican parties stripping Michigan and Florida of all or some of their delegates; I just haven't read enough about it. Regardless of that though, I remember a little about that d-word I learned about in high school government, and this overall primary system just ain't it.