Obama Camp Wants To Push Back Future Primaries

The Obama campaign and the Democratic National Committee want to change the way the Democratic Party chooses its presidential nominee.

The campaign and DNC today "announced a proposal to establish a special commission to recommend changes to the Democratic Party's rules for delegate selection and presidential primary timing for future presidential cycles," according to an Obama press release.

The proposed "Democratic Change Commission" would focus on three areas: "changes to the opening of the window and pre-window"; lowering the total number of superdelegates, the party insiders and elected officials who have the power to swing who becomes the nominee; and changing the caucus system.

In a separate email to CBSNews.com, Obama spokesman Nick Shapiro elaborated on the proposed "changes to the opening of the window and pre-window":

"First, the primaries and caucuses began too early, causing instability in the election calendar and resulting in elections that were too close to the Christmas and New Year holidays," Shapiro wrote. "So, we are recommending that our nominating rules be amended so that no primary or caucus can be held prior to the first Tuesday in March, except for the four pre-window states."

"Obama continues to believe in the important role that Iowa and New Hampshire have historically played in the process of choosing our party's Presidential Nominee and the important early role Nevada and South Carolina had in 2008," Shapiro added.

He also wrote that in this election cycle, "too many states piled up on the first day of the calendar window, with 22 primaries and caucuses being held on Feb 5."

"We are asking the Democratic Party to review this frontloading and look for a workable solution to reduce it," Shapiro wrote.

The proposal to establish the commission will be presented Saturday in Denver to the Convention Rules Committee.