Editorial: You have no say

It didn't take long for the pretenders to be separated from the true contenders in the race for what's still the most powerful position on earth.

With Super Tuesday now less than a week away, the once-crowded fields for the Democratic and Republican presidential nominations have been whittled down to four legitimate candidates.

Following Republican hopeful Rudy Giuliani's exit, Sen. John McCain and former Massachussetts Gov. Mitt Romney remain as the standard bearers for the GOP. On the Democratic side, Sens. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama remain to slug it out after the departure of John Edwards.

All four are quality candidates, capable of serving as our chief executive and commander in chief.

Lost in the campaign rhetoric and the debates over faulty polling that have dominated this year's compressed primary season is the fact that millions of Democrats and Republicans across the country do not have a real voice in selecting their party's nominees.

Voters in seven early primary states, including sparsely populated Wyoming and Nevada, have reduced once-formidable candidates to also-rans in a matter of five weeks. And the primary season will be over for all practical purposes on Feb. 5, when voters in 22 states head to the polls for Super Tuesday.

You should be incensed. The shuffling of the primary dates has left North Carolina voters without a say in this important process. Even voters in American Samoa, which holds primaries on Feb. 5, can boast of helping select the nominees. Our primary on May 6 will be meaningless.

All voters should have an opportunity to participate in the nominating process. This will not happen until the leadership of both parties agrees that a national primary is what's best for our nation.