(Rep. David Price of Chapel Hill is a congressman representing the 4th U.S. House District. He is also a former chairman of the state Democratic Party.)

Last year, as more and more states were moving their primaries and caucuses closer to the beginning of the presidential nomination process, it seemed likely that the Democratic nominee would effectively be chosen in February, if not earlier.

I credit North Carolina's leaders for resisting the impulse to join the 24 other states that moved their primaries to opening day, Feb. 5, or the two (Michigan and Florida) that leapfrogged into the pre-season. By holding fast to a May 6 date for our presidential primary, coincident with state-level primaries, we were rewarded with a marquee moment to judge the two remaining Democratic candidates and with 24 bonus delegates for helping anchor the national calendar.

That's not to say that everything worked out the way it should.

In 2005, I co-chaired the commission charged with rationalizing the Democratic Party's primary/caucus schedule. We kept Iowa and New Hampshire in the pre-season but added Nevada and South Carolina to increase diversity. And we gave other states incentives to space their contests evenly from Feb. 5 through May. We resisted the idea of a national primary, which would downplay retail politics and accentuate the role of big money and big media. We aimed for a sequence of contests that would thoroughly test our candidates and give various states complementary roles in winnowing the field.

What played out instead was a chaotic rush to Feb. 5 or before and a ragged schedule thereafter. It was a miracle that we still had a contest Tuesday.

I hope North Carolina will avoid rushing to the front in 2012. Other states may learn that lesson from 2008 as well. But the process still needs repair.

The official season should begin later, in early to mid-March, and extend for three months. This would place our primary nearer the middle of the calendar and avoid the spectacle of December campaigns in the pre-season states. The parties need to agree on this shortly, for the Republicans will set their 2012 rules at their convention this summer.

GOP leaders are considering more extensive changes as well, such as a primary schedule starting with a few small states and sequencing other states in clusters, rotating election to election. Such efforts are worth taking seriously because the go-it-alone decisions of 100-plus state parties and 50 legislatures have produced a flawed system.

North Carolina should not try to game the system. Our May primary has given us a place in the sun this year and will be even better positioned if reform efforts move in the right direction nationwide.