What To Do About US Elections

I'm still basking in the glory of Election Day.  Although we may feel exhilarated, relieved, optimistic, I bet none of us ever wants to go through another 22 month election campaign.  American campaigns are too long, expensive, repetitive, nasty, and ultimately, boring.

I have a proposal for a new electoral system and would love to hear from readers with their ideas.  I present my thoughts below, fully recognizing that vested interests in the existing system will try to resist anything that smnacks of major reform!

National Primary

Our nominating system is archaic, ridiculously long and expensive, and anticlimactic since presidential candidates are determined before the conventions.  My system would:

Start the primary season on March 1 of election year
Legitimate candidates would have to be nominated by 10 state political parties that could make five choices each (this is to narrow the field to serious contenders)
Hold two debates for legitimate candidates -- one on domestic issues and one on foreign policy -- before the primary vote.
Terminate the nominating process with a nationwide vote on June 1.
Allow only party members to vote in the primary.  -- If Independents want to vote in the national primary, they'll have to register in a party .  (They can return to Independent status after the election but not after the primary.  This would hopefully keep party members from switching to the other party to influence primary results.)

I haven't quite figured out what to do about small parties -- any suggestions?

One-Day Conventions

There is nothing more boring and expensive than our national conventions.  Here's my proposal:

Each party would have a one-day convention on consecutive days -- June 15 and 16 -- in which the Vice Presidential candidate is announced and the Presidential candidate is presented to the country.
Party platforms would be worked out before the convention and voted on at the convention.

Election Campaign

The election campaign would run from June 2 to the first SUNDAY in November.
Three debates would be held -- one on domestic issues, one on foreign policy, and one town hall-type meeting.
Early voting would be allowed for two weeks prior to the election by mail or ballots completed at designated  election offices.

Eliminate the Electoral College

The President will be elected by popular vote.

Paying for the Election

All federal candidates -- presidential and congressional -- would be offered government funding or the option of raising their own funds, but not spending more than twice the government allocation.
Individuals would have a total contribution limit which would include contributions to candidates and parties.
All federal candidates would be given a specified amount of time for commercials.  They would not be allowed more time.

Again, I can't figure out what to do about small parties -- ideas?

Opposition to My Proposal

Who won't like it?

The states with early primaries that love being first.  The parties will like some of the proposal since they still play a role in the election, but they'll hate the limit on contributions to parties.  The small states will hate losing the Electoral College.  The small parties are left dangling until we figure out what to do.

While my proposal is good for the voters and candidates and pretty good for the major parties, the other "small" interests in the U.S. will be incensed.  As someone from the biggest state, I'm not that sympathetic!