Politically speaking, there’s not much ‘super’ about today

Politically speaking, there’s not much ‘super’ about today

It’s hard to believe that Super Tuesday is here already, and almost as hard to believe that the day will likely end with no candidate clinching the Republican or the Democratic nomination.

Not too long ago, the smart money was on today’s elections and caucuses in 24 states deciding the major party’s nominees, leaving the rest of the states in the union to just go through the motions.

Not now.

The early primaries and caucuses, largely in small unrepresentative states, have managed to winnow the field, but no single candidate is running away with the nomination.

Joining the early Democratic casualties are John Edwards and Ohio’s Dennis Kucinich, leaving a tight two-person race between Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama.

The Republicans are essentially down to a two-man race between John McCain and Mitt Romney after Rudy Giuliani and Fred Thompson dropped out. Ron Paul and Mike Huckabee are still nominal contestants, but Paul is all but mathematically eliminated and if Huckabee is seriously running for anything, it is a vice presidential spot on somebody’s ticket.

It’s still too early

The problem with having Super Tuesday so early is, well, it’s so early. It would have served both parties and the nation better if more candidates had been given more time to talk about the war, health care, immigration, tax policy, the economy and energy.

We wonder how many voters casting a ballot today in more than 20 states could accurately describe his or her preferred candidate’s position on more than a couple of those topics. They are more likely to be voting on whether or not they believe Clinton’s camp played the race card in South Carolina or whether McCain is conservative enough to be his party’s standard bearer. Millions will cast their ballot based on various celebrity endorsements, and far too many will vote based on scurrilous Internet and e-mail gossip.

Ohio voters have another month before they, along with Texas voters, make their choices, which could very well turn out to be the choices that the rest of the nation will have to live with. But unless you’re already a registered Ohio voter, you won’t be deciding anything in the primary, because yesterday was the last day to register.