What state should go first in Democratic primaries/caucuses

[Frodo]

Nevada and Mississippi should certainly replace Iowa and New Hampshire.  They are still small enough to allow for the in-person retail politics that Iowa and New Hampshire currently enjoy, while better reflecting the diversity of the present-day Democratic Party.  And as an aside, it will force Democratic candidates to confront the endemic poverty of the inhabitants (predominately black) living along the Mississippi delta.   

[Frodo]

There should be a national primary. So everyone would go first!

And who would benefit most from a national primary?  The better funded candidates with the resources to spread around the country.  And who are those better funded candidates likely to be?  More often than not (though certainly not always) establishment candidates.  A national primary is institutionally biased against insurgents. 

I am not sure if that's what you really want.  

[Frodo]

Nevada and Mississippi should certainly replace Iowa and New Hampshire.  They are still small enough to allow for the in-person retail politics that Iowa and New Hampshire currently enjoy, while better reflecting the diversity of the present-day Democratic Party.  And as an aside, it will force Democratic candidates to confront the endemic poverty of the inhabitants (predominately black) living along the Mississippi delta.  

MS Democrats are actually less representative of the national Democratic electorate than IA Democrats.  538 estimated that 72% of MS Dems were Black, compared to only 58% for South Carolina (these estimates seem a bit low, but are probably relatively correct).

African-Americans (especially African-American women) are the bedrock of the Democratic Party in the South.  I think it's high time we place them first.  It will at least send a signal that we will no longer take them for granted.  So why not a state that has the largest proportion of African Americans in the country?  A state that is the poorest in the Union?  A state that has long been overlooked except in civil rights documentaries on PBS.