OMG, you have got to be kidding. Each state has their own process, and as you may have noticed, those processes are not at all alike.
Plus we only had 36 states by the end of Lincoln’s presidency and AQ/ISIS/hate-America communists were not breathing down our neck.
Times have changed drastically. Maybe the process needs to keep up?
You sound like a liberal: the system is the problem, Change the system and things will be better. The problem with the primary system is that it encourages a political system based on enthusiasm. The evangelist comes to town and holds an altar call. Then what happened? A few heed the call and build up the Church. The majority sink back into apathy. Then the deacons get blamed when things go wrong.