Can parties impose order on '08 calendar?

As states seek the limelight with earlier primaries, the national parties threaten harsh penalties.

from the September 4, 2007 edition

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"If the RNC forces New Hampshire delegates to make a choice between being a delegate to the national convention or protecting and preserving the first-in-the-nation primary, we'll choose the New Hampshire primary," he says. "We've always gone first."

Saul Anuzis, chairman of the Michigan Republican Party, says the Jan. 15 date, which passed the legislature with bipartisan support last week and has the governor's nod, would force candidates to pay closer attention to the state's issues. "This is huge for us," he says.

He takes exception to the notion that the Iowa and New Hampshire contests should remain first because of tradition. "It doesn't make it right," he says. "Michigan has as much of a right as any other state to be significant in the process."

Tom Sansonetti, the Wyoming Republican Party's county conventions coordinator, says the state's new GOP primary date – as of now the first in the nation – has already paid dividends. A recent visit by former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney was the first to the state by a major candidate in primary season in at least three decades, he says.

"We're not trying to be first to be first," he says. "We're just trying to be heard, and to show the unfairness of the current nominating system," which he says gives a small number of states – largely in the north and east – disproportionate influence. "The only way you can fix something sometimes is to break the rules."

Under the Democratic rules, the only states that may hold a primary before Feb. 5 are New Hampshire, Iowa, South Carolina, and Nevada. The Republican rules bar primaries before Feb. 5, but they don't apply to Nevada and Iowa because their early caucuses are technically nonbinding.

Consequences of breaking party rules

Ms. Paxton says well-spaced primaries compel candidates to spread their attention across the country. "It's important for candidates to be able to address different communities, address different regional issues, so we nominate the best nominee for the entire nation," she says.

But with some 20 states now planning contests on Feb. 5, the rules do not appear to be achieving even that result.

Breaking party rules could backfire for some states. Presidential candidates are less likely to invest money and time in a contest that can't deliver delegates to the national conventions, a fate that befell the Iowa Republican straw poll last month August, which every leading GOP hopeful but Mr. Romney skipped.

"We believe Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada, and South Carolina play a unique and special role in the nominating process," the Clinton campaign said Saturday in a statement announcing its commitment to the "four-state pledge."

Party leaders in some states say they are unruffled by a possible backlash. They say that at the national conventions next year, where delegates are counted to select a nominee, the parties' national leaders would be likely to suspend any sanctions and seat a full slate of delegates from each state in the interest of party unity.

In the meantime, states are willing to take their chances. Mr. Sansonetti of the Wyoming GOP says even if sanctions are enforced at the 2008 convention, "We'll say, 'Go ahead and take our delegates.'

"It's worth it to go first."

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