NH on the outs? Western Primary in?

Not likely, but this article from Foster's Daily Democrat indicates that people are talking about shaking up the primary system, at least a little bit. I guess this kind of worrying is pretty typical in New Hampshire, much like a “I think it’ll rain” thing here.

As the dust settles on the 2004 presidential race, some party insiders are turning back to where the campaigns began—New Hampshire — to look for ways to improve the primary process.

The Granite State’s first-in–the-nation primary status has been threatened in recent years by other states attempting to preempt it or overshadow it. Michigan tried after the 2000 election, and Delaware, New York and California have tried, too. However, no state has succeeded.

The Democratic National Committee is planning a commission to study the effectiveness of holding the first primary in New Hampshire. And, with the loss of Sen. John Kerry, who had promised to help the state keep its place at the front of the line, the status is even more up in the air.

...Currently Democratic Gov. Bill Richardson of New Mexico, a "true believer" in the New Hampshire primary according to Chaney, is pushing for western states to adopt a regional process, and the National Association of Secretaries of States also has advocated a regional system.

Maybe the Western Primary will become a Super Tuesday sort of event, focusing the primaries attention into one region following New Hampshire and Iowa, forcing candidates to focus their attention, but not bounce out any of the other early states.

The NASS's proposal would group all of the states and territories into four regions. The West would include: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, Wyoming and Guam. All four regions would pick their dates by lottery, with the primaries being held separately in March, April, May and June.

Emmett O'Connell | December 2, 2004 | Comment on This Post (1 so far) Permalink: NH on the outs? Western Primary in?

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