Primary Motivation

Over and over during the past few months, states have moved forward the dates of their presidential primaries to try to get to the front of the line. North Carolina has even advanced an idea to make the state more important to the general election. Which leads me to wonder: Do states really get anything out of being relevant to the presidential selection process?

Changing primary dates does have costs associated with it. California, for example, had to rush an audit of voting machine security in order to be ready for the state's February primary.

This article in the Las Vegas Review-Journal assuaged my doubts, however. Hillary Clinton is calling for hearings on the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository, declaring, "I'm not going to be president for 18 months. If we don't slow it down now, it could become a fait accompli."

Clinton has a record of opposition to the repository, but Republican critics point out that she didn't attend two hearings on Yucca Mountain last year. What's changed since then? Nevada has moved to second, after Iowa, in the presidential nomination process (it's also a swing state for the general election). 

So, for any presidential candidate who will listen, I have a suggestion on how to dispose of the nation's nuclear waste: Build a spaceship out of New Hampshire granite, fuel it with Iowa ethanol and blast it off from a brand new spaceport constructed by Ohio workers. Now if only I could figure out a way to use some Florida oranges...