Time for the National Parties to Step In
Primary Season Getting Earlier
S.C. GOP's Move Could Push Votes For 2008 Into '07
Washington Post Staff Writer Thursday, August 9, 2007; Page A01
South Carolina's Republican Party will move its 2008 presidential primary forward to Jan. 19, sources said yesterday, a decision almost certain to spark a cascade of calendar changes that could push the start of voting to New Year's Day or even to before Christmas.
The move, set to be announced today, is likely to cause the New Hampshire primary and Iowa caucuses to be shifted at least to early January, and other states are actively angling to stake out spots earlier in the process. The maneuvering has injected a new note of uncertainty into what is already the earliest-starting presidential campaign in history, and top strategists for the candidates said it would force them to revise their carefully worked out plans. ____________________________________________________________________
The nation and the candidates are exhauste…