Why do they get to choose?

Clinton, Romney on Offensive As Pivotal Contest Draws Near By Anne E. Kornblut and Shailagh Murray Washington Post Staff Writers Monday, January 7, 2008; Page A01 HAMPTON, N.H., Jan. 6 -- Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, slipping further behind her chief rival in the Democratic primary here, has taken direct control over her strategy and message as she scrambles to block the ascent of Sen. Barack Obama. (Washington Post)

Could someone please enlighten this poor, lost citizen, why a state with barely a million TOTAL people of voting age (US Census) is suddenly a pivotal state? Even when you add in Iowa, with a voting eligible population of 2 million (of which just slightly less than 10% participated in the vaunted caucuses), that is barely more than 0.1% of the total eligible US population.

So again, what gives? Yes, I understand the rational that if the "little guys" do not get their say so, they would be ignored in the entire process, but I am beginning to wonder if they do not have too much influence over the entire process.

The 2008 elections have been going on since the polls closed and the votes were counted on November 9, 2004. In all that time, the United States is going to select a Presidential candidate based on the opinions of LESS than the population of the Greater Washington Metro area? Neither state could be considered representative and while the primary in New Hampshire might actually be more scientific, statistically it is less important that April numbers are to Major League Baseball statistics. That is to say, nil. A blip on a VERY large chart, barely inside the margin of error, but the candidates are running as if it is the end of the world, and the media is not helping any.

New Hampshire and Iowa has a minimal impact on the Electoral College. Yet, by the time the votes are tallied and the Collage has ratified the results, both of these states will have had more influence than California, New York, Ohio and Florida combined. At some point, the citizens of the United States need to stand up and declare the system broken and begin to get it fixed, or we will continue to get the candidates we did not choose because by the time it got around to being "our turn" the choice had already been made for us.