Ugh. I seriously couldn't care less which state goes first.
As reported by the veteran political reporter John Distaso on Christmas Eve, New Hampshire’s secretary of state, Bill Gardner, has warned that the Republican primary may have to be moved up because the proposed Feb. 14 date would land only four days before Nevada’s Feb. 18 caucus — a violation of New Hampshire laws that require the primary to take place a week before a “similar election” is held elsewhere. (Except Iowa, of course.)
If New Hampshire moves, that could force Iowa — which has similar rules about putting some distance before another state’s voting — into January. That would break a gentleman’s agreement between the two parties to try to keep the official start of the 2012 voting in February, where it was for decades — before that, voting didn’t begin in Iowa and New Hampshire until March.
Welcome to the game of musical chairs that is the primary calendar.
