A long 10 months

That's the length of time we'll be forced to wait between the Iowa caucuses and the presidential election. The Iowa Democratic Party has moved its caucuses to January 3rd, 2008, following the lead of Iowa Republicans. This adds 11 more days to the gap between primary season and general election. Our country drags this process on longer than anyone else. Australia is set to have a general election in just under a month, and it was announced only two weeks ago.
The punishing length of the campaign cycle has a detrimental effect on political discourse in this country. One, it forces candidates looking to lay groundwork for campaigns to start ever earlier in establishing a national base. Mitt Romney spent 219 days completely or partially out of state in 2006 in preparation for an election that will not even happen until November 2008. On a related note, the lengthy campaigns draw candidates away from their jobs once they've declared. Barack Obama, Chris Dodd, Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden, and John McCain have each been forced (or had convenient excuses) to miss important Senate votes. If they're out giving speeches or debating instead of voting on whatever issue is up for consideration, is this really a more honest way of getting their views out to the general public? Lastly, the endless "strategy-framed" election coverage increases the cynicism of the public towards the political process. They see their elected officials not concentrating on accomplishing something in their current job, but asking for money so they can get a better one.
If our presidential candidates can't articulate their policy positions and vision for our country in theoretically even 10-12 weeks, haven't they failed us? Why must we demand that they tour the country for two-plus years laying the groundwork for campaigns? 45% of voters will vote for Democrats no matter what, and 45% will vote for Republicans no matter what. If the remaining 10% of the electorate can't make up their minds in the time of 10-12 weeks, any additional time would not make their decisions easier. Enough of this lengthening of the primaries. Shorten the election cycles so we can let politicians do the jobs they were elected to do.