GET TO KNOW US

Interested voters have more opportunity than ever to get to know the presidential candidates. They can turn to their favorite cable TV news network, read newspapers and news magazines, review candidate Web sites, and even see videos of candidate stump speeches, thanks to the Internet. Of course, a cynic might note that candidates are more guarded than ever, and what we hear them say has been tested with focus groups and then carefully scripted.

But as well as voters might know candidates, the converse is becoming less true. What does Barack Obama know about the struggles of Maine’s forest products industry and the impact of wood imports? What does Fred Thompson know about Maine lobstermen’s competitive disadvantage with their Canadian counterparts? Does Chris Dodd know how many Maine workers make minimum wage? Does Mike Huckabee understand the impact to Maine roads from the federal weight limit on I-95?

With the front-loading of state primary votes and caucuses, candidates have less reason than ever to visit Maine, or, for that matter, many other small states. The race to the nomination has become like a game of eight ball. For the Democrats, it’s Iowa, Michigan, Nevada, New Hampshire, South Carolina, Florida, and then, in the corner pocket, what’s being called Tsunami Tuesday: primary votes or caucuses in Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Utah. The Republicans throw in Wyoming after Iowa, and add West Virginia to Tsunami Tuesday.

Maine Republicans plan to caucus on Feb. 1, and Maine Democrats plan their caucus for Feb. 10. Both will likely come after one candidate has pretty much nailed down the nomination. At the very least, the fields will have been winnowed to two or three at the most.

The national party leadership is trying to rein in state committees, which in many states are working to get their primaries to the front of the line. Democrats are threatening to strip Florida of its delegates if it holds its primary in January as scheduled, and Republicans are also facing similar breaks in the ranks.

Not surprisingly, there are alternative plans to create regional primaries. One plan, proposed as federal law by Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., would preserve Iowa’s and New Hampshire’s early status, but divide the nation into four geographic regions, which would take turns holding their primaries after New Hampshire. A month would separate each vote. The region that voted first in 2012 would vote last in 2016. Other plans create similar rotations; one proposal groups states not by geographic region, but by population size.

All these approaches have merit, because they allow time for candidates to set up shop in a region and get to know it. We may not be able to expect our next president to be able to find Meddybemps on a map, but someone from Meddybemps should have a chance to tell the next president what ails our nation; the president could only be better off for hearing that.