Earliest-ever N.H. primary set for Jan. 8

Defenders: Early election serves U.S. well
Gardner and other defenders of New Hampshire say the country — and the candidates — are well-served because the primary requires close contact with voters, not just a big advertising budget and name-recognition. Gardner also insists that New Hampshire has a uniquely probing and democratic political culture, of which the primary — a progressive reform when it began in 1916 — is part.

He had been prepared to schedule the primary in December if necessary, a possibility that might have benefited Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, the Democratic front-runner nationally and in the state, by giving her opponents less time to catch up.

A December vote might similarly have benefited Romney, the former Massachusetts governor who leads Republicans in New Hampshire. He welcomed the Jan. 8 decision and immediately challenged the Republican National Committee's effort to punish states that defy party rules on the calendar.

"I will work to ensure that all New Hampshire's delegates are seated at the convention," he said.

McCain appeals for donations
The campaign of Republican John McCain, who won the New Hampshire primary in 2000, used the announcement to send out an appeal for campaign donations, saying, "We have less than seven weeks to make sure that we are able to reach every voter in New Hampshire with John McCain's message of courageous service, experienced leadership and bold solutions."

There had been concern that a December date would alienate everyone, dooming the primary after 2008.

Jan. 8 also has drawbacks. It's only five days after Iowa, instead of the usual eight, and voters will be absorbed by the holidays in two of the three preceding weeks. In 2004, the primary was Jan. 27.

Though the New Hampshire primary has long been the nation's first, no one outside the state paid much attention until 1952 when ballots started listing candidates rather than convention delegates. That year, Tennessee Sen. Estes Kefauver upset Democratic President Harry Truman — Truman soon left the race — and Gen. Dwight Eisenhower, recently retired from the Army, won the Republican primary.

Earlier Wednesday in Michigan, the state Supreme Court allowed both the Democrats and Republicans to hold their primary on Jan. 15. The court's 4-3 decision overturned lower court rulings that said the law setting up the primary was unconstitutional because it would let the state political parties keep track of voters' names and whether they took Democratic or GOP primary ballots but withhold that information from the public.

By holding its primary so early — in violation of the national parties' rules — Michigan stands to lose half of its delegates to the Republican National Convention, reducing the number to 30, and all of its 156 delegates to the Democratic National Convention.

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