Race to be first unsettles campaign

[gwhunter69]

Race to be first unsettles campaign

By: Roger Simon
Aug 9, 2007 12:28 AM EST

DES MOINES, Iowa — The political primary calendar for 2008 is beginning to resemble a game of bumper cars more than an orderly way of selecting the next Democratic and Republican nominees.

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[gwhunter69]

Iowa Gov. Rules Out '07 Caucus
DES MOINES -- Iowa Gov. Chet Culver said Iowa will preserve its status as the state that holds the kickoff event of the presidential nominating process, but dismissed speculation that the caucuses will be moved to December 2007. "The bottom line is Iowa will have the first caucus and we're going in January," Culver said in an interview at his state capitol office this morning.

On Thursday, several Iowa political leaders vowed that the caucuses could be moved to mid-December because of South Carolina's decision to set its Republican primary on Jan. 19 -- a move likely to force New Hampshire to set its primary before that. But Culver said the 2008 nominating process should not begin in 2007. "This is a 2008 process. It ought to start in 2008," he said.
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