I think the media is stupid. They decide who wins based on exaggerating on the winner while ignoring the reality of delegates. For example, Hitlery "won" in Nevada by the popular vote (Meaning they voted for her name.) but Osama won more delegates because more people voted for his delegates. I think it's stupid how the ballots list candidates and their delegates separately. It just confuses people. And because the campaigns get front loaded by the media, only 4 or 5 primaries that the media makes a big deal out of actually count towards anything so they are disenfranchising millions of voters.
You're correct. Usually after the first couple primaries, most
candidates drop out and there's only a couple left and the nomination
is close to being decided. The reason so many states
moved up their primary date for this election cycle is
because they wanted their state to have a say in who gets
nominated in each party. Each state feels like it deserves
an equal say. But then Iowa and NH both moved their
Caucus and Primary up because they think they have
a special right to always be the first states that vote.