Driving to Augusta this morning on Route 202, it became visibly obvious that political season's upon us.

There were signs all over the median -- from Susan Collins. Ethan Strimling and many others.

A week ago, the Kennebec Journal and Morning Sentinel started publishing a series of profiles about people running for the 1st Congressional District seat in Maine, the seat being vacated by Rep. Tom Allen as he opposes Collins for Senate.

John Frary, a Republican candidate for the U.S. Congress, paid a visit to the Morning Sentinel office in Waterville this week. Yes, he had his hat and cane.

Frary opposes the re-election of Democrat U.S. Rep. Mike Michaud, who has a formidably good chance of winning.

You have to admit, if you follow politics at all, this is a most different presidential primary season. I started voting in 1980 and this primary season fascinates me.

A black man leads for the Democratic nomination. A woman is arguably second. An Hispanic is fourth. A tort lawyer's third. No, we haven't had that before.

The Republican nomination is wide open and looks to be that way for weeks. Usually, in my memory, the GOP primary race is only 2, maybe 3, serious candidates and there's a clear-cut early favorite.

Here's another twist: The Obama-Edwards-Clinton race has been nastier than the GOP race. It also has been more "different." If this election truly is about change -- Americans could think twice about how much change they want by November -- it seems the Democrats have a better chance.

Here's a counterintuitive prediction: Hillary Clinton will grind out the Democratic nomination.

On the Republican side, no idea at this point.

Before I get going, a semi-disclaimer: I haven't watched any of the presidential debates start to finish. But I've watched substantial parts of most of them, including last night's Republican debate on CNN.

My views:
I don't have a problem at all with nutty questions, if they're occasional. Some journalists have written that the moderator was way out of line a few weeks ago with the Democrats to ask if they'd ever seen a UFO. I think that's a good question — it's surprising, and it might shed light on a candidate who actually has to answer something that he or she could not have rehearsed.

There is an axiom about interviewing people for profile stories or Q&As (so you're interviewing someone about himself or herself) that you definitely throw in a surprise question or two: "How early do you get up in the morning? What's your routine before work?" Or: "If you could choose one person other than your spouse/partner to have dinner alone with tonight, who would it be?" Asking a business CEO or a governor a question like that can provide more insight than drilling them on profits or taxes. So I like surprise questions in moderation.

The YouTube thing is hit or miss. Some of the questions are excellent. I thought the question last night about black-on-black crime (from an African-American father and his son) was excellent, though the answers were so-so. Then again, the song that started the debate and the question about gun control — which was funny, but too basic — added little.

There are too many debates with too many candidates. I am interested in politics and have followed them all my adult life, as a citizen and a journalist. But the debates are running together in my mind now and I agree that only the top 4-5 candidates should appear. On the other hand, that may have meant Gov. Huckabee was not at the GOP debates a few months ago. And he's coming on now.

I agree with critics of last night's debate too that NOT asking about energy was a huge mistake. If the YouTubers didn't think of it, Anderson Cooper definitely should have. He is a millionaire and the son of a multimillionaire (Gloria Vanderbilt). Maybe it showed that he isn't concerned about paying $3.10 a gallon for heating oil and gasoline this winter, while the rest of us are petrified. Heck, it's even related to Iraq and the Middle East situation, because of all the oil over there.

Now, I have questions for you. What do you think of the debates, and should we play them more prominently in the Kennebec Journal and Morning Sentinel? No Maine newspaper played the GOP debate on page A1 today but I believe the Boston Globe did. How much should we play up the early primaries in New Hampshire, Iowa and elsewhere? (I say pretty much. Both races are close and the early primaries will be important...). You can post or email me directly at: econrad@centralmaine.com

We're assembling a complete look at election issues, polling places and names of candidates here at our Web sites. In fact, the election collection is located right above these blogs.

This is another example of how the Internet can help us do better journalism. We could not run election lists like this in the print newspaper every day — it would take up too much space, be seen as repetitive, and crowd out other news stories. But we can build these things online, leave them in a prominent location for several weeks, and tell print readers where to go if they want to see a complete election package.