Super Tuesday?

Chances are you've been bombarded with news about "Super Tuesday". I wanted to really get an understanding of it, since this is really the first year that I've become interested in the political process and the presidential election. Well, I can't find any information that clearly explains what Super Tuesday is or how it works. The best explanation I found was on Wikipedia.

In the United States, Super Tuesday commonly refers to the Tuesday in early February or March of a presidential election year when the greatest number of states hold primary elections to select delegates to national conventions at which each party's presidential candidates are officially nominated. More delegates can be won on Super Tuesday than on any other single day of the primary calendar, and accordingly, candidates seeking the presidency traditionally must do well on this day to secure their party's nomination.

I had to read that a couple of times to really absorb all of it. And then I think, again, that so many things about the way our country elections politicians is messed up. The whole thing about caucases, how much money is needed to run for ANY type of political office, the fact that delegates are the ones doing the nominating, and the fact that we even have an electoral college. Why on earth we don't just have regular, Joe Schmoe citizens voting for people, and have the popular vote determine who is elected, is something I don't understand.

Why the policital process has to be so uncessarily complicated is just mind boggling. I guess it would be asking to much to have it make sense. For example, on Super Tuesday, Wikipedia says that a primary will be held to elect delegates. OK, so who is voting for these delegates? Everyone, or some government body? I can't find an answer anywhere. And if the delegates are the ones who will be making nominations for each party's presidential candidate, then why are the candidates bothering to spend all of this time and money on television commercials, and campaigning to regulary people, when they really just need to win the support of delegates?

It shouldn't be this confusing. If anyone can point me to a good web site that clearly explains how this works, I'd appreciate it. Update at 2 pm on Monday: at least now I don't feel so bad about finding this confusing.

And, I've decided...if it comes down to Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama, I'll vote for Obama. This article on The Nation does a great job of summarizing my own feelings.