Today I saw several signs urging me to vote for Garland Hogshed. Now, I don’t know Mr. Garland from Adam’s cat. Not whether he is a Republican, Democrat, liberal, conservative, incumbent or challenger. I only know he’s running for Commissioner in Clay County, North Carolina. But he has a sturdy Southern name which belongs on a local official hereabouts. That brings us to the subjects of this column, local officials and early primaries. Unlike most states, North Carolina has a very early primary, May 2nd. Why is this? Many times I’ve read the bromide that “America has two major parties,...