California has made it official: they have moved up their presidential primary date to February 5th, 2008. Colorado legislators are considering the move as well, along with 21 other states for a “Super-Duper” Primary.From the New York Times:
Whereas candidates in past years were able to concentrate their early efforts on the first-in-the-nation contests in the small “retail campaign” states of Iowa and New Hampshire, the 2008 contenders hoping for a share of California’s big lode of delegate votes will have to gin up their mass media campaigns earlier than ever and spend a good chunk of their personal time in the far reaches of the West Coast.
California’s early primary is a blow, perhaps the most painful yet, to the longstanding primacy of the Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primary in the nominating process, already eroded by the Democratic National Committee’s decision to move caucuses in Nevada between those events and a South Carolina primary a week after New Hampshire’s in 2008.
Meanwhile, California has trumped the numerous other states that have been scrambling to move their primaries and caucuses earlier than ever in hopes of gaining more influence and attracting more media attention.
With California’s more than 36 million residents and nearly 16 million registered voters compared to Colorado’s 4.7 million residents and 3 million registered voters-where will the presidential candidates focus their attention?
