Unless, of course, one of the parties doesn't seem prepared to produce a nominee.
Many leading Democrats hope that enough states hold early primaries to produce a nominee by the end of March.
When Democratic Party officials devised their primary calendar for 2004, they produced a rapid-fire voting schedule intended to quickly produce a nominee who could escape the battering that has hobbled so many presidential candidates over the years.
"If his party doesn't produce a nominee and a platform that has appeal among the single most important part of the Democratic base, i.e., black and Latino voters, then they don't have a chance," Mr. Stone said.
Now the battle among nine candidates moves into a critical phase with the start of the new year and with a rush of contests that Democrats say is likely to produce a nominee by mid-March.
Eight years after Ross Perot burst into American politics, his Reform Party split today into separate conventions that will each produce a nominee claiming to be the party's true presidential candidate and the rightful recipient of $12.6 million in federal campaign money.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Republican National Committee approved a plan on Friday seeking to avoid a stampede of early primaries in the next presidential campaign by pushing back the contests one month to extend the nominating season and produce a nominee who is tested in all parts of the country.
It is also remarkable when you take into account that national Democratic leaders created an accelerated primary schedule this year in order to produce a nominee who would escape the intramural beatings that previous presidential candidates endured as a result of long, drawn-out primary fights.
The hope was that such a move would produce a nominee early in 2016, allowing the party to unite and focus on the fight against Clinton.
The Iowa Caucus will not produce a nominee-on the Democratic side it won't even winnow the field, because if Martin O'Malley has stuck with his lifeless campaign thus far, there is no reason for him to drop out when he gets no delegates in Iowa, but it will nonetheless be significant.
