Why is our Election Process so Ridiculous and Long?

I'm a Democrat, and I have been since JFK. I did vote one time for a Republican President, to my chagrin, because I thought he might be a better manager of our country at the time (I was young and less wise then). I also live in Washington State, which is relevant to my comment about voting for a manager-Republican once upon a long-time ago, as Washington State has one of the stupid dual caucus-primary presidential nomination systems--a monument to management inefficiency and waste.

I want to bring up two topics in this post:

First, the unbelievably screwed-up Presidential Primary system (dys-system) in this country--which currently affects my party the most, and threatens what should be an almost certain Democratic win in the Presidential election. (It might also affect the Republicans in the future, who are now rubbing their hands in glee, as it puts an over-the-hill nominee back in serious contention for the Presidency).

Second, the negative consequences of the continued internecine battle between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, which is also partly a consequence of the first point. (The longer this Dem party competition drags on, the more negative it becomes--and the more ammunition for McCain/McBush, as well as a drain on Democratic resources and the more it robs the eventual Democratic candidate of his or her emotional and physical resources).

With regard to the first topic: it is pure insanity to have a presidential nomination and election contest which drags on for so long. Not only do people lose interest, but the costs in money and diversion from important national interests is immense. People who do wish to be involved are robbed of their votes through dual caucus and primary votes in some states, like Texas and Washington State.

In Washington State, only the caucuses counted toward nomination--a small percentage of the eligible voters--while the primary did not. This is an example of pure stupidity. I still do not fully understand the Texas "two-step", but like Washington's it's stupid to infinity.

There has been a lot written about Michigan and Florida and their aborted primaries, so I won't do much more than mention them as further evidence for stupidity.

I believe most Americans would like an more efficient, shorter Primary selection process, as well as a shorter Presidential campaign--I know I do. Both would be far less costly as well (How many potholes could have been fixed with the excess wasted money, not to mention health care needs?). Many other democratic countries, including the much maligned French, seem able to elect their leaders in a much shorter, less costly and more efficient election process.

So, what's the solution to overly long, costly and undemocratic state primaries?

It's so simple that, like the V8 ads, anyone who can't see it deserves a smack on the head. It's just this: Drop the inane caucuses, they limit participation percentages in the nominating process and are most obviously undemocratic. Shorten the nominating process by having five regional primaries (this has been suggested many times by others) and have the involved states pool the costs or have them paid for by the Feds. Which region goes first? Draw numbers 1-5 from a hat, and do this every 4 years so there's no long term advantage to any region. (It's OK if you have fewer, or a few more, regional primaries--any number between 3 and 8 is OK by me).

Finally, limit the time for campaigning for the Presidency, after the party conventions to 3 to 4 months, maximum. Most of us will have made up our minds by then anyway. This is a completely multipartisan solution to the absurd costs and useless waste of time in our elections. Why haven't we and why can't we get something like this done? It would be a boon to all of us.

And, while we're at it, let's solve the voting machine paper trail problem, too. This should be done well before the next presidential election. It should not be that hard. Our inability to accomplish such common-sense changes is one more piece of evidence, to me, of how the United States is declining.