Why so early?

Because the primaries are much earlier than the actual election. States are moving their primaries earlier and earlier. For example, in NH for the republican primary you MUST register as a republican or an independent by October 12th. That only gives people a little less than a week. If they don't change their registration, the won't be able to vote in the republican primary and will have no say in who gets the nomination. After the primaries you only have two options which isn't a whole lot.

Personally and the way it's going now I think it's because they want us to start thinking about how bad each incumbent is. The more we see the bad things about them the more we are apt to not vote for them.

Politics is nothing more than winning the hearts and minds of the voters. Face it, some of these people need all the time they can get. On the positive side, there is always the chance that one of them will say too much and accidentally let their true feelings on an issue slip.

Our country is in a time, like no other. This election is going to be very important. No matter what side you are on an issue, you need to be sure that YOUR candidate is held accountable. Phone calls, emails, whatever...This shouldn't be about who will be our next President, it should be about who is going to fix these problems, help our country heal and protect us from Mother Nature or our enemies.