As Butler County residents await the results of today's Iowa caucuses, it is right for them to reflect on an Associated Press article in Wednesday's Butler Eagle headlined "Poll: Iowa, N.H. too influential."

While the results in the two states (the New Hampshire primary will be held Tuesday) might be dead-on in terms of the eventual Republican and Democratic presidential nominees, voters here and across the nation must acknowledge that, regardless of the results in the two states, it still will be too early to feel comfortable in betting on the success of any of the major presidential contenders.

Instead, the cluster of states that will conduct their presidential primaries in February will more likely determine the two candidates who will square off on Nov. 4.

Unfortunately, a proposal to thrust Pennsylvania into the heat of the early primary elections battleground never materialized, and the Keystone State primary will be held April 22.

Whenever the two finalists are determined, many voters across the land will vent a sigh of relief. That's because it already seems like this presidential election year is three years, rather than three days, old.

Fewer than one in five voters who participated in the poll highlighted in Wednesday's article said they favor the current system that allows Iowa and New Hampshire to hold the first contests, while nearly 80 percent said they would rather see other states get their chance at the front of the line.

In terms of the election big picture for November, the combined 11 electoral votes of Iowa and New Hampshire (Iowa, 7; New Hampshire, 4) represent only 4 percent of the 270 electoral votes that will be needed to elect the next president.

Voters here and elsewhere shouldn't fail to keep all of the realities of this election season in perspective as they await the Iowa and New Hampshire results to unfold.