Cedar Rapids Weather
Republicans Set Earlier Caucus Date of Jan. 3rdBy Dave Franzman, Reporter
CEDAR RAPIDS - Tuesday night, the Republican Party of Iowa's State Central Committee voted to hold its first-in-the-nation caucus on the evening of January 3, 2008. That's a Thursday and the same day as the Orange Bowl football game.
The Iowa caucuses had been tentatively scheduled for January 14th for both parties. However, the GOP changed the date in the face of Michigan and Florida jockeying for January primaries. Complicating the presidential primary calendar is that New Hampshire has yet to set a date. New Hampshire Secretary of State William Gardner says he won't settle on a primary date until other states make their moves. He has said he wouldn't hold the New Hampshire primary after January 8th. Officials have said that even if another state tries to leap-frog Iowa, they won't push the early contest into the holidays. Iowa Democrats are keeping mum on the the date of their caucus. If they picked a different date, it would mean the first split caucus dates since the 1970s. The caucus date debate may be a topic of concern for political activists. But the candidates don't really want to take sides. Democrat Barack Obama was asked about an earlier date during an appearance Tuesday near Fairfax. The Illinois Senator said "I think we just need to show up on the right day to caucus, so when you finally decide what the day is we want to know that date. Other than that, it won't make too much difference." There's no rule that Democrats wouild go along and change their date to match Republicans. But the tradition is for both parties to host caucuses on the same date. The Iowa Democratic Party was expected to release a statement Tuesday night after the Republicans hold a conference call about their caucus date. More Good Stuff |
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