New Hampshire Primary To Be Jan. 8
New Hampshire set its earliest-ever presidential primary on Wednesday, deciding on Jan. 8 and claiming its traditional spot as the nation's first in a nomination season pushed almost to New Year's Day of the election year. (see the whole primary and caucus calendar here)
New Hampshire Secretary of State William Gardner announced the date, ending months of speculation, including the possibility that the state might actually push its primary into December in order to keep its spot at the head of the line. Iowa, which chooses delegates with a caucus system, begins five days earlier on Jan. 3.
New Hampshire primaries often have shaped presidential contests - sometimes dramatically - for nearly a century. Next year's early date, less than seven weeks from now, resulted from states around the country scheduling their own early primaries and caucuses to attract candidates before the major party nominees are chosen. As a result, both the Democratic and Republican nominees are likely to be effectively known by Feb. 5, when 22 states vote, if not earlier.
Gardner set New Hampshire's date hours after Michigan's Supreme Court said that state's primary could go forward as scheduled on Jan. 15, ending a court battle. New Hampshire waited to make sure Michigan wouldn't schedule caucuses even earlier.
He learned of Michigan's decision earlier in the day while meeting a friend - former ambassador Terry Shumaker - for lunch. Shumaker had arranged the lunch date to show Gardner an old letter he'd recently been given - one written by the late Gov. Hugh Gregg, Gardner's old friend and fellow booster of the New Hampshire primary.
When they met for lunch, Shumaker told him about Michigan. "I told him, I said it's over," Shumaker said.
With that knowledge, Gardner said he felt confident picking a date.
"So here we are, the eve of Thanksgiving and we're able to at least end the quest for the date," he said at a news conference.
"I wasn't expecting to do this today," he added, gesturing at his outfit - an oatmeal sweater vest over a shirt and tie - relatively casual dress for the normally suited secretary of state.
Iowa's caucuses have led the schedule for several decades, but New Hampshire has had the initial primary for much longer.
"This tradition has served our nation well, as decades of candidates and presidents have said," Gardner said.
Gardner wouldn't commit to Jan. 8 in an interview earlier this week with CBSNews.com, but it appeared likely that would be date due to various problems with other possible dates.
"There's been so many twists and turns that it's impossible to think of all the possible scenarios," Gardner told CBSNews.com's David Miller (read more in Horserace).
New Hampshire's date, once picked, is not likely to be changed. Gardner said he does not consider Wyoming's GOP county caucuses to be similar to the primary, nor is he fazed by the 5-day window between Iowa and New Hampshire, which traditionally have been eight days apart.
"I am absolutely certain that there will be no similar event within seven days," he said.
Gardner said he didn't consult with officials from either party, Gov. John Lynch, or New Hampshire's congressional delegation before picking the date Wednesday.
"That's the way I've always moved along this path," he said.
Candidates have been campaigning hard in New Hampshire under the assumption that the state would vote on the parties' nominees early in the primary season, as usual.
Campaign Calendar
The latest information on the primary and caucus dates in 2008.
The Iowa caucuses will start the nominating process on Jan. 3. Wyoming GOP county caucuses follow on Jan. 5, followed by New Hampshire on Jan. 8 and Michigan on Jan. 15. South Carolina Republicans and Nevada will vote on Jan. 19, South Carolina Democrats likely will be on Jan. 26 and Florida on Jan. 29.
Both parties plan to penalize the states voting before Feb. 5 if their contests are binding.
New Hampshire stands to lose half of its delegates to the Republican convention, reducing the number to 12, because it moved earlier than party rules allow. But state officials are not concerned about that, considering it a small price to pay for the attention New Hampshire gets from its leadoff spot. Democratic rules allow New Hampshire to hold an early primary, so the state will keep all of its 30 delegates to the Democratic National Convention.
Iowa and New Hampshire, two small, predominantly white states, traditionally wield disproportionate influence in presidential politics because of the enormous publicity their early contests get. Democrats tried to leaven the mix this time by adding early contests in Nevada and South Carolina, but Iowa and New Hampshire moved even earlier.
Gardner and other defenders of New Hampshire say the country - and the candidates - are well-served because the primary requires close contact with voters, not just a big advertising budget and name-recognition. Gardner also insists that New Hampshire has a uniquely probing and democratic political culture, of which the primary - a progressive reform when it began in 1916 - is part.
He had been prepared to schedule the primary in December if necessary, a possibility that might have benefited Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, the Democratic front-runner nationally and in the state, by giving her opponents less time to catch up.
A December vote might similarly have benefited former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, who leads Republicans in New Hampshire. He welcomed the Jan. 8 decision and immediately challenged the Republican National Committee's effort to punish states that defy party rules on the calendar.
"I will work to ensure that all New Hampshire's delegates are seated at the convention," he said.
The campaign of Republican John McCain, who won the New Hampshire primary in 2000, used the announcement to send out an appeal for campaign donations, saying, "We have less than seven weeks to make sure that we are able to reach every voter in New Hampshire with John McCain's message of courageous service, experienced leadership and bold solutions."
There had been concern that a December date would alienate everyone, dooming the primary after 2008.
Jan. 8 also has drawbacks. It's only five days after Iowa, instead of the usual eight, and voters will be absorbed by the holidays in two of the three preceding weeks. In 2004, the primary was Jan. 27.
"It was a real possibility," Gardner said of a December date. "The eighth is not an ideal date," he added.
Though the New Hampshire primary has long been the nation's first, no one outside the state paid much attention until 1952 when ballots started listing candidates rather than convention delegates. That year, Tennessee Sen. Estes Kefauver upset Democratic President Harry Truman - Truman soon left the race - and Gen. Dwight Eisenhower, recently retired from the Army, won the Republican primary.
Anti-war Sen. Eugene McCarthy's surprisingly strong showing in 1968 doomed another Democratic president, Lyndon Johnson, and little-known former Georgia Gov. Jimmy Carter cemented the primary's reputation by winning the primary and the White House in 1976.
The primary also has shaped numerous Republican races, notably by boosting actor and former California Gov. Ronald Reagan over Iowa-caucus-winner George H.W. Bush in 1980.
For 40 years, no one was elected president without winning the primary. Democrat Bill Clinton, who finished second in 1992, broke that string.
Earlier Wednesday in Michigan, the state Supreme Court allowed both the Democrats and Republicans to hold their primary on Jan. 15. The court's 4-3 decision overturned lower court rulings that said the law setting up the primary was unconstitutional because it would let the state political parties keep track of voters' names and whether they took Democratic or GOP primary ballots but withhold that information from the public.
By holding its primary so early - in violation of the national parties' rules - Michigan stands to lose half of its delegates to the Republican National Convention, reducing the number to 30, and all of its 156 delegates to the Democratic National Convention.
The national parties have imposed similar penalties on other states as party leaders have struggled to regain control of a chaotic nominating calendar.