Candidates' D.C. Primary Strategies Build Slowly

[goobergunch]

Iowa Vote Will Follow City's, but It's Foremost On Most People's Minds

By David Nakamura
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, August 31, 2003; Page C01

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No one was quite sure what to expect when D.C. Democratic Party representatives maneuvered to gain national attention for the city's push for statehood, voting rights and representation in Congress by moving the District's primary ahead of Iowa's Jan. 19 caucuses and New Hampshire's Jan. 27 primary. Was it a serious proposal? A stunt? More important: Would it matter who won?

Now, with just over four months to go, most candidates, while stressing the importance of campaigning in the District, appear uncertain just how much effort to put into their D.C. campaigns. Their schedules are packed with appearances in Iowa and New Hampshire.

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D.C. political activists acknowledge that the move was a desperate stunt to force the issue of D.C. representation onto the national agenda. And although the primary is nonbinding -- a requirement because Democratic National Committee rules prohibit placing a primary before Iowa's and New Hampshire's -- D.C. activists said they expect delegates to support the winner.

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And it does matter who wins, the activists and candidates say -- or, to put it another way, it certainly won't help to finish last.

more (including candidate details)...http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A5326-2003Aug30.html