India pulled off their election this year in six weeks.

We live in the future. It's not like the only way to hear about a politician is to physically go to an event and see them in person, and it's not like the only way to research a candidate is to go through your local library to find physical newspaper archives. A debate anywhere is a debate everywhere and you can look up anyone's record in an instant on Wikipedia.

Also, remember, we're talking about a primary. Those are inherently smaller because they only encompass Democrats, instead of the entire population.

Also also, these excuses don't actually address the problem: the appearance of an undemocratic process.