Primary season

Just a quick rant: why on earth do we need to be doing this so early? We still have 9 months to the general election, heck 6 months before the conventions. Why don't the states all make a deal: Iowa and New Hampshire can keep their "first" status (as illogical as it is to do so, but it seems to give them a sense of purpose that they otherwise lack) but everybody shift their primaries/caucuses to May or June.