Nominating contests should be paid for by the government

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First, let me say Obama won the caucuses fair and square. It isn't his fault that we have the rules we have or that Clinton didn't choose invest the time and money to win them. But, in the future, nominating contests should be paid for by the government and run like the real elections they should be. On May 6, or if I choose, up to 30 days before May 6, I can go to my polling place or to the downtown elections department, and cast a vote in my primary. It will take me maybe 20 minutes all told. Had I lived in Iowa, Nevada, or a host of other states I would have had to spend hours waiting around before I could vote for my candidate. We run these races this way because it is cheaper. When these contests largely didn't matter, it largely didn't matter how we conducted them. This year they matter. They may matter again. We get what we pay for. The public has an interest in who these nominees are, yes even the GOP ones, and the public should pay for it. Obama won these fair and square but the rules still suck.