Iowa GOP sets Jan. 3 caucuses

The jockeying is creating controversy inside and
outside the party.

MCCLATCHY NEWSPAPERS

DES MOINES, Iowa — Iowa Republicans on Tuesday advanced their presidential caucuses to Jan. 3 in an effort to retain their first-in-the-nation status, but state Democrats gave no indication on whether they would make the same move, pick another day or adhere to the original Jan. 14 caucus date.

The latest jockeying in the nation’s presidential calendar may open Republican candidates to criticism they could become political grinches who stole the Christmas-New Year’s season from Iowans. With the date change, their TV ads could be interspersed in holiday specials, their attack mailings mixing with Christmas cards, their door-knockings commingling with package deliveries, their automated campaign calls blending into relatives’ telephoned holiday greetings.

“It’s a complete disaster,” said one veteran presidential campaign official who asked not to be identified. “The way campaigns work, you schedule backward from Election Day — from your trips, media buys and ground game. It’s a complete mess.”

Further complicating the calendar is the unsettled state of the nation’s first primary in New Hampshire. Originally expected Jan. 22, the date could be moved up into December to counter states trying to gain an early foothold on the presidential nominating process, such as Michigan, which set a Jan. 15 primary date.

New Hampshire Secretary of State Bill Gardner, who alone has the right to set his state’s primary date, has said only that it will be held no later than Jan. 8, which would be a scant five days after the Iowa GOP’s new caucus date, the earliest ever.

Following a vote Tuesday night by Iowa’s Republican State Central Committee to switch the GOP caucus date to Jan. 3, Chuck Laudner, the party’s executive director, said in a statement that with 1,784 precinct caucus meetings to run, candidates and volunteers deserved “a set date.”

“With under 80 days to go, this is a huge help to our counties and county chairs to get the ball rolling and start organizing,” Laudner said.