Who says the Democrats are a party without ideas? Why just this weekend they came up with an idea for how to lose the 2008 presidential election!

Okay, that's not what the press releases from the Democratic National Committee said, but they might as well have. Having spent 18 months trying to improve the already frontloaded nominating calendar, the DNC strategists decided they should . . . frontload it even more.

Presto! A schedule of caucuses and primaries guaranteed to keep the candidates in the air instead of talking to voters on the ground:

• Iowa on Monday, Jan. 14.

• Nevada on Saturday, Jan. 19.

• New Hampshire on Tuesday, Jan. 22.

That's three elections in three time zones in just over a week. And all of it before the Super Bowl. (Hey, maybe they could squeeze in the next primary at halftime.)

One more time: There's nothing wrong with trying to broaden the base of voters who participate in choosing the party's presidential nominee. In fact, the more voters who are heard from before the party is committed to one candidate, the better the chances that candidate's message and style will resonate with a majority of voters in the November election.

But the way to get more people involved is to spread the states out, not pile them up into a virtual national primary. Yes, candidates traditionally spend a lot of time in New Hampshire and less in other states. So spread out the calendar to allow more time in more states. Compressing the calendar only guarantees less time meeting with voters everywhere and even more emphasis on raising money before any votes are cast.

Naturally, the question on DNC members' minds is: What will Bill do? No, not Bill Clinton, whose wise admonition against the folly of frontloading they ignored. The Bill in question is Bill Gardner, New Hampshire's secretary of state (the one who lives in Manchester). It's his job to set the date of the first-in-the-nation presidential primary and to ensure the voting occurs at least one week before any similar contest.

Keep in mind Gardner is not beholden to the DNC calendar. The small-d democratic presidential primary was New Hampshire's creation, and state law gives him flexibility not only in setting the date of the primary, but also in deciding when to announce that date.

What should Bill do? That's for Gardner to know and the DNC to find out. In fact, here's hoping Gardner spends a few nights reading the collected works of former Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan to help in the fielding of what will surely be incessant questions from out of state.

Like Yogi Berra, Greenspan may not have said everything he is said to have said. But his powers of obfuscation are deservedly legendary, for he was never more clear than in his desire not to speak too clearly.

So, Bill, here are couple of Greenspan's greatest hits for you to use as often as needed. It doesn't matter whether they are distinct quotations, or misremembered variations of one day's otherwise forgotten congressional testimony, or even someone else's words apocryphally pilfered. They're gems, regardless.

To sound a polite note of caution, try: "I guess I should warn you, if I turn out to be particularly clear, you've probably misunderstood what I said."

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