IS THERE HOPE FOR A BETTER NOMINATION PROCESS?

IS THERE HOPE FOR A BETTER NOMINATION PROCESS? Almost five years ago, I began a series of posts here, all of which expressed a hope for a better presidential nomination process. I had a quote from Michael Barone which summarized a number of my objections to the current system: “It starts too early, takes too long and ends too abruptly….It excludes many serious candidates….The process gives too much power to Iowa and New Hampshire.” I think that progress was made in 2008 because the theory that a party must choose its candidate early or be severely handicapped was dealt a blow. The contest between Hillary Clinton and Barrack Obama lasted a long time and gave people in most states a chance to vote. And I think the Democrats were helped by the opportunity to make their arguments. So I have been looking forward to further progress in 2012. My dream for down the road is that there would eventually (in 2020 perhaps) be several senators and several governors who remain in active consideration during an election year until most of the states have had a chance to vote. Which would mean that there would often be a contested convention.