Today is Super Tuesday, the day where a whopping 24 states will conduct their Presidential primaries or caucuses. The rest of the states have either gone or will follow in the slow trickle to the nomination. Oregon, as I've complained before, is May 20, or fourth-to-last.

I've talked about solutions to this problem before, but humor me one more time. I'll be quick. We need a better primary system, duh. And I've recommended regional primaries, say five of them, staggered over the course of two-and-a-half months from February through April, with the conventions in May or June. That way, everyone gets a say before it's too late, and we have a nominee before it's too late. You could even rotate the primaries every election season, just to be extra fair.

I'm a fan of appropriate, good government regulation. Healthcare, for example, needs government regulation. So does the fire department. And so do elections. It's ridiculous that such an important process is strung along and controlled in nefarious ways. Certain states have two primaries on wildly-apart dates, depending on the political party? Ridiculous! It's time for something like a national primary, dependent on popular vote. If you want to keep delegates, then just tie them directly to the popular vote result in a proportional system. Although I can see an argument for rewarding good Democratic states. There, done.

But I also find myself in a pickle today. I supported John Edwards for the longest time, and finding a new home after he quit the race is proving emotionally-draining. I put so much heart into John, after all. In the past week, I've watched debates closely and followed campaign events. Now I'm a free agent, so the fun begins anew.

After careful consideration, I think I'm going to be supporting Barack Obama going forward. I have my reservations about him and his candidacy, but he flat-out inspires me in a way that another Clinton does not. Plus, watching him speak and listening to his positions, I just believe him. If he adopts the economic populism that Edwards pushed, then I'll just be peachy. He's not perfect, but he's good enough on most of the issues.

Oh, and here's one final note. I heard some reporter talking on NPR yesterday about John McCain. She said that, if he goes on to win the Republican primary, that it would be the political story of the season, how a moribund campaign turned itself around after scraping bottom.

I'm sorry, but no. That's wrong, wrong, wrong. Did you realize that, on the Democratic side, either an African-American or a woman will be a major party's nominee for the first time ever? That story trumps any old white guy's resurrection, especially considering the Republican party (un)civil war. I think some reporters need to get their heads out of the DC clouds for a few minutes and watch the national excitement that either Democratic candidate generates or the historical ramifications of a Clinton or Obama candidacy.

So, have a blast tonight watching the results! Go team! And, PS, just to show you how crazy and oft-useless polling is, look at these strange polls out of California. Wow. Just wow.