South Carolina moves up primary, likely will trigger Iowa and New Hampshire to move up as well

[draft_mario_cuomo]

This affects only the Republican SC primary but, because of NH and IA state law, it is almost certain to trigger a move up by these two states unless SC backs down. Primaries the week of New Years? Even Christmas? :crazy:

==Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, August 9, 2007; Page A01

South Carolina's Republican Party will move its 2008 presidential primary forward to Jan. 19, sources said yesterday, a decision almost certain to spark a cascade of calendar changes that could push the start of voting to New Year's Day or even to before Christmas.

The move, set to be announced today, is likely to cause the New Hampshire primary and Iowa caucuses to be shifted at least to early January, and other states are actively angling to stake out spots earlier in the process. The maneuvering has injected a new note of uncertainty into what is already the earliest-starting presidential campaign in history, and top strategists for the candidates said it would force them to revise their carefully worked out plans.==

==Katon Dawson, who heads the South Carolina GOP, made the shift to retain the distinction of holding the "first in the South" presidential primary balloting. Dawson's move was sparked by the Florida legislature's decision to upstage South Carolina by moving the state's primary to Jan. 29. South Carolina had been scheduled to vote Feb. 2.==

==Under some scenarios, the decision could lead Iowa to hold its caucuses in mid-December, creating an unprecedented situation in which convention delegates are selected in the calendar year before a presidential election.==

Read the rest at http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/08/AR2007080802112.html?nav=rss_email/components