"States Poised to Flout GOP Primary Rules"

Source:  Forbes – 9/4/2007

Thoughts: As you can see, the state primaries will continue to be an issue until they begin. Many states are vying for the chance to go first and influence the 2008 election by having their voices heard (and actually matter). While this might be localized to the 2008 elections only, it begs the question is the states should move towards a national primary day to avoid similar chaos in the future.

Article:  “States Poised to Flout GOP Primary Rules”
By Stephen Ohlemacher

WASHINGTON – Michigan officially crashed the early primary party on Tuesday, setting up showdowns with both political parties while likely pushing the presidential nomination calendar closer to 2007.

Gov. Jennifer Granholm signed a bill Tuesday moving both of Michigan’s presidential primaries to Jan. 15. Michigan’s move threatens to set off a chain reaction that could force Iowa and New Hampshire to reschedule their contests even earlier than anticipated, perhaps in the first week in January 2008 or even December 2007.

(Article continues.)

“While political maneuvering will no doubt continue, our move to January 15 is final,” Granholm said in a statement.

The national parties have tried to impose discipline on the rogue states. On the Republican side, the early voting states risk losing half their delegates to the convention next summer for scheduling contests before Feb. 5, though some are banking that whoever wins the GOP nomination will eventually restore the delegates.

Democrats have experienced similar problems, but party officials hoped they had stopped the mad dash to move up by threatening to strip Florida of all its convention delegates for scheduling a primary on Jan. 29 and convincing the major Democratic candidates to campaign only in the party-approved early states.

Michigan, in moving up its primary, faces a similar penalty from the Democratic National Committee.

Tuesday was the deadline for states to submit to the Republican National Committee the date and format of their primaries or caucuses. It might not turn out to be much of a deadline because some states are continuing to jockey for earlier votes.

(Read the rest of the article here.)