The Insane Acceleration Of The Presidential Primary Season
Iowa. South Carolina. New Hampshire.
They’re all jockeying to find a way to enhance their influence on the 2008 Presidential race.
But now, it’s just getting insane:
South Carolina is poised to hold its Republican presidential primary earlier than Feb. 2, 2008, likely in mid-January, a move that is expected to push New Hampshire and Iowa to follow suit.
Such shifts could mean the first GOP nominating contest could take place in December of 2007, in just four months.
South Carolina GOP Chairman Katon Dawson will announce the earlier date Thursday during a joint news conference with New Hampshire Secretary of State Bill Gardner in Concord, N.H.
“We’re going to protect this battleground,” Dawson said of South Carolina’s historic first-in-the-South primary status.
He and his aides declined to disclose the date.
But several Republican officials with knowledge of probable scenarios say the most likely option is for South Carolina to hold its primary on Jan. 19, a change they say would lead New Hampshire to schedule its first-in-the-nation primary on Jan. 7 or 8, and Iowa to hold its leadoff caucuses as early as mid-December, perhaps on the 17th.
Quite honestly, it’s only August 2007 and I am already sick of the 2008 Presidential race. I don’t want to hear about another debate, unless, of course, it’s drunkblogged by Stephen Green, I don’t want to see another campaign commercial, I don’t want to see an Obama Girl, or a Romney Girl, or a Hillary Lesbian.
And if the primary season for 2008 starts before Christmas 2007, well, then, I think I may just have to send my write-in vote for “None of the above” a little bit early.
Seriously, though, I never thought I’d say this, but I think the idea of regional primaries is something we need to think about. Let’s start them in February of a Presidential election year and spread them out over a two or three month period (or longer if necessary). One regional primary for the Northeast, one for the Southeast, one for the Midwest, one for the Far West/West Coast.
It would seem to make a heck of a lot more sense than what we’re doing now.
Originally posted at Below The Beltway
