It would be interesting for Pennsylvania to be in the thick of things in helping to determine the two major parties' nominees for the 2008 presidential election.

Now, about halfway through 2007, the 2008 primary election date finally is getting the attention it deserves.

The presidential primary was discussed in the House State Government Committee last week, and the committee is expected to vote in the coming days on a bill introduced by Rep. Harry A. Readshaw, D-Allegheny, that calls for the primary to move to the second Tuesday in February — a 10-week leap forward.

Gov. Ed Rendell advocates Pennsylvania joining an election stampede a week earlier — Feb. 5 — in which more than a dozen states will be holding primaries or caucuses.

Like with most of the Feb. 5 states, this is an issue that should have been decided months ago. But, consistent with the slow pace of business in Harrisburg, lawmakers have dawdled over the presidential primary balloting date like they've done with so many other issues, excluding, of course, a 2005 middle-of-the-night pay raise that they approved with lightning speed.

Some lawmakers already believe that, despite the current discussion, the election-date issue is dead — at least for next year.

Of course, based on what's been happening elsewhere, there's a chance that the dawdling might have a gold lining for Keystone State voters.

If the states that have lined up for the early February primaries and caucuses don't produce clear-cut winners for the nominations, Pennsylvania, by virtue of its later primary — now scheduled for April 22 — could be the battleground that settles one or both deadlocked nominations.

Based on the course of events during past presidential primary seasons, the likelihood of that scenario playing out is remote, however.

As of now, 16 other states, including California and New York, already have scheduled 2008 primaries or caucuses for Feb. 5. Four other states, including Michigan, are expected to join that contingent.

In Pennsylvania, the legislature should not now have to be scrambling to make a decision about the primary election date. The possibility of abandoning the traditional April presidential balloting has been a serious topic of discussion and speculation for at least a year, although the issue evoked discussion well before that.

Unfortunately, the wheels of Pennsylvania state government too often run on grossly underinflated tires, and this is one of those instances.

Rendell says he hopes Congress can agree on a national plan for scheduling presidential primaries for 2012 and thereafter. However, the issue of when each state will hold its presidential primary is a decision better left to the states.

"We are, have been (and) continue to be losing ground" in the state's efforts to influence the nominating process," Readshaw said.

Readshaw and his colleagues, past and present, have only themselves to blame for that.

The only consolation is that, regardless of what happens in regard to Pennsylvania's 2008 presidential primary, the state will be in the spotlight for the general election balloting. The commonwealth traditionally has been a major presidential battleground because of the number of electoral votes it wields.

But that's no justification for the indecisiveness that has prevailed on the balloting question for so long.

Pennsylvania lawmakers should be capable of making what most state voters would regard as a simple yes or no decision.