Michigan Joins the Race for a ‘Me First’ Primary

[Romulox]

Source: NY Times

The primary election calendar is a lot like the weather: Everyone gripes about Iowa and New Hampshire going first, but no one does anything about it.

This year they are trying mightily.

States have been falling all over themselves to get some of the attention lavished on little Iowa and New Hampshire. Bigger states have long felt that these two largely rural, largely white states are not representative of the rest of the country. The intense scrambling has left the primary timetable up in the air.

The latest state to try to muscle its way up front is Michigan, where the State Senate could meet as early as today to start the process of moving its voting, probably to Jan. 15. Florida has already hop-scotched ahead and may be penalized for doing so. South Carolina Republicans leap-frogged ahead of Florida.

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“Michigan has been bellyaching for years, more vociferously than any other state, about Iowa and New Hampshire going first,” Mr. Ballenger said. “They’re saying, ‘We’ve had it, we’re going Jan. 15, we’re going to trump everyone,’ and that’s what they’re determined to do.”



Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/22/us/politics/22calendar.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin