by Mark Silva
The Granite State finally carved in stone its 2008 presidential primary election date today.
Jan. 8.
"It is kind of fitting that on the eve of Thanksgiving, a uniquely American tradition, I'm pleased to announce that another important American tradition will endure,'" said Bill Gardner, New Hampshire's secretary of state, in an announcement of the election date just now in Concord. "New Hampshire has held the first presidential primary since 1920.''
With the Iowa caucuses set for Jan. 3, the 2008 presidential nominating season already was set to open earlier than ever before. And with a spree of megastates voting on Feb. 5, the season may effectively end sooner than ever before as well.
The Michigan Supreme Court today cleared the way for a primary there on Jan. 15, Nevada, South Carolina and Florida are all set to run primaries or caucuses in January as well.
But New Hampshire, whose own state law requires that its primaries come before all others, has moved to ensure that Dixville Notch preserves its place in presidential nominating lore.
New Hampshire, which gave Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona a dramatic boost in 2000 with his 19-point primary victory over then-Texas Gov. George W. Bush, will be critical to the McCain campaign again this winter. Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney is favored there. But for McCain, the state's vote could be fateful. Among Democrats, the state will provide a critical test of any rival's ability to thwart the bid of front-runner Sen. Hillary Clinton of New York, whose apparent advantage has slipped in New Hampshire polls in recent weeks.
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Comments
This primary should be good....
Posted by: Tommyboy | November 21, 2007 5:37 PM
In response to New Hampshire, California has announce that they have moved their primary to two weeks ago . . .
Posted by: Aaron | November 21, 2007 8:43 PM
How much you wanna bet that come the 2012 election, New Hampshire and Iowa will have their primaries in January 2011, just to make sure they are first!
Posted by: John D | November 21, 2007 10:56 PM
Candidates for the 2012 elections will announce their candidacies right after the polls close next year. Then the 2012 Iowa and New Hampshire primaries will be set for right before Christmas 2008 so they can be first.
Posted by: lochnessmonster | November 22, 2007 9:00 AM
Whatever happens in the New Hampshire primaries, does not matter.
I would advise the presidential candidates -be them Republicans or Democrats- to save their campaign money and contributuions for better use.
Sen. Hillary Clinton will win the Democratic nomination and thereafter she´ll be the first american woman ever to win the office of the Presidency.
You all have forggaten and underestimated the powerful block-ballot of millions of american women who won´t stay idle during this presidential race (even republican women will vote for her).
It is a well known fact that U.S. women are far more voter-concious than men.
Even so, millions of men will vote for Hillary, because they know she is and intelligent and tough-minded woman.
For all of this, she´s in a win-win scenario.
Posted by: Jose Cabrera | November 23, 2007 4:07 PM