Last night, a few hundred thousand Iowans met in small groups and publicly declared their preferred presidential nominees - and then, under pressure from their family, friends and neighbors, they were forced to switch their preferences if they proved unpopular.

Thus begins America's great quadrennial exercise in democracy.

On Tuesday, another small, mostly white state will pick its favored candidates - though, in a nod to advances made in the 1800s, New Hampshire residents will be allowed to cast their vote on a secret ballot. (Wyoming Republicans vote tomorrow, by the way. But nobody seems to care.)

Our neighbors in the Granite State are followed by Michigan (Jan. 15), Nevada (Jan. 19), South Carolina (Jan. 19 & 26), Florida (Jan. 29), and Maine (Feb. 1 & 10).

Après, le deluge. Call it what you will - Super-Duper Tuesday, Tsunami Tuesday, Tubular Tuesday - but on Feb. 5, voters in nearly half the states will cast primary ballots. In the unlikely event one party (or both) still lacks a nominee after that, the fight will continue in the dozen and a half states with primaries in March, April, May, and June - and possibly all the way to the party conventions at the end of the summer. It's hard to know what most Americans would find worse - the primary campaign dragging on for months more, or the general election campaign starting in the first week of February.

The presidential election is Nov. 4 - exactly 11 months from today. The two parties will likely settle on their nominees in just a few weeks. When they do, it will kick off an almost 10-month campaign between the Democratic and Republican nominees.

In theory, that might be a good idea - this country faces a host of challenges, both foreign and domestic, and in a time of polarized party parity, it could be helpful to have a long, substantive debate about the nation's future.

One civic-minded observer suggested scheduling monthly one-hour TV debates between the two candidates. Each debate could focus on a single topic - one would be about Iraq, another on healthcare. Since even the slickest candidate couldn't speak in soundbites for a full hour, voters who took the time to watch would get a much better sense of each nominee's grasp of the issues and plans for the future.

Nothing like that will happen, of course - the idea is too risky for the politicians and consultants who run campaigns.

Instead, then, we're about to be treated to a 10-month dogfight full of mud-slinging and misinformation. That will test the patience of even the most politically-minded American - let alone those who hate politics to begin with.

Think about it: How worthwhile were the first four or five months of the endless campaign between President Bush and John Kerry? (Heck, how worthwhile were the last four or five, for that matter?)

Here are a few tips for making the best of what promises to be a long year in politics:

Ignore the polls. At least until Labor Day, when regular people start paying attention and the campaigns really move into full gear. It doesn't matter who voters say they'll vote for in August "if the election were held today," because it's going to be held in November.

Stay skeptical. When you hear that a candidate "raised taxes 8,000 times" or "slapped an elderly woman," visit PolitiFact.com or FactCheck.org and make sure it's true before you put any stock in the claim. Read, don't watch. Sure, I'm biased. But you'll almost never learn anything useful about politics on television, which is an entertainment medium, not an educational one. Stick to newspapers, magazines, and the best of the new online publications.

And let the campaigns begin.

TED NESI is a Sun Chronicle staff writer. His column appears on Fridays. He can be reached at tnesi@thesunchronicle.com.