First and foremost, I believe that North Carolina actively participating in the presidential primary is good for the electoral process and good for North Carolina.

For far too long North Carolina has been ignored by the presidential campaigns and the national media because of the late date of our primary.

If you look at voter turnout, I think it was over 36 percent across the state. Democrats as well as Republicans responded to what was an energized contest by Sen. Barack Obama and Sen, Hillary Rodham Clinton.

The national spotlight was on North Carolina.

That enthusiasm spilled down to the governor races, as well as the down-ballot races and the races for U.S. Senate and Congress.

In my view, that enthusiasm is good for democracy.

The presence of the presidential candidates also puts more emphasis on the problems and challenges that confront the average family in our state.

In turn, the politicians must speak in settings that are not just 30-second commercials or 10-second sound bites designed for the 6 o'clock news. They must in fact get in front of folks, answer questions and talk about their philosophy of governance.

Obviously, North Carolina was a big-time player in the outcome of the Democratic presidential nomination. Republicans should have the opportunity to be kingmakers as well.

I would advocate that both the presidential and state primaries be combined into one and held on the same day. That addresses the issue of duplicate costs, which has been one of the impediments that opponents of an early presidential primary have noted.

An early primary also shortens the primary campaign season for all other candidates involved in the process: both state and federal.

A late May primary has essentially been an incumbent-protection plan. An early primary gives a challenger more of an opportunity to campaign in the general election, build an organization and compete for funds. It creates more competition and consequently, I would argue, fewer career politicians.

On the revenue side, moving the primary up is good for business. It generates revenue for both the hotel and broadcast industry.

To conclude, North Carolina's values are unique. It is time that the citizens of North Carolina have a say in the nomination process for the presidency of the United States.