Democrats opt to give 2 more states an early say in selecting nominee

CHICAGO — Democrats, eager to give African Americans and Hispanics a bigger voice in picking a presidential nominee, adopted a new caucus and primary calendar Saturday that puts new states on the coveted early-voting calendar.

The new calendar would add Nevada, with a large and growing Hispanic population, and South Carolina, with its large African-American population, to the two largely white states of Iowa and New Hampshire that have dominated the early voting for a generation. Democrats see both minorities as critical to the party's success in 2008.

Advocates of the plan passed on a voice vote by the Democratic National Committee (DNC) said it will force Democratic candidates for the White House to develop a broader message that extends beyond the concerns of voters in Iowa or New Hampshire.

The vote in Chicago came as 300 members of the DNC wrapped up their summer meeting with a debate on the scheduling changes.

Although most party officials embraced the change, New Hampshire Democrats joined several likely presidential candidates and former President Clinton in opposing the move, which would reduce the influence of Iowa and New Hampshire.

"The DNC did not give New Hampshire its primary, and it is not taking it away," New Hampshire Gov. John Lynch said.

In an attempt to discourage such defiance, Democrats also adopted sanctions to penalize presidential candidates who ignore the new calendar by campaigning in states that snub the changes.

Saturday's decision packs all four state contests into two weeks in January. The change means a potentially huge cast of Democratic presidential candidates could winnow quickly by the beginning of February.

Iowa would hold precinct caucuses Jan. 14, 2008, followed by new Nevada caucuses Jan. 19. New Hampshire's traditional first primary would be Jan. 22, and South Carolina's primary Jan. 29.

All other states would be prohibited from starting their voting until a week later, Feb. 5.

"If this works, the candidates will go to all the states," said Alexis Herman, the former Clinton administration Labor secretary who led the party's efforts to overhaul its voting.

Republicans have their own rules for choosing their presidential nominee and will not necessarily schedule their primaries and caucuses to match the dates chosen by Democrats.

The DNC decision, which embraced the recommendations adopted Friday by the party's Rules and Bylaws Committee, marks the biggest shift in the way Democrats have nominated their presidential candidates in 30 years.

The plan had broad support from minorities, many of whom cheered and hugged when it was adopted. U.S. Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones, D-Ohio, noted it was backed by the Congressional Black Caucus, the Congressional Hispanic Caucus and the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus.

Whether all states — and candidates — will follow the new calendar remains to be seen.

Among key opponents of the shift was Kathleen Sullivan, head of the New Hampshire Democratic Party.

She said that by cramming so many contests so close together, Democrats will allow their nominee to be chosen by fewer than 500,000 voters in just four states. "That is not democracy and that is not diversity," Sullivan said.

New Hampshire state law requires the state primary be scheduled seven days earlier than any "similar" election.

While the state has recognized the earlier Iowa caucuses as different and thus OK — they are town-hall meetings rather than a primary — state officials have chafed at whether they would give Nevada's caucuses a similar pass.

New Hampshire officials could move their primary forward to as early as December 2007. They won't decide until next year, after all other states have set their voting dates.

Eager to avoid a rebellion, the DNC approved new rules that would punish any presidential candidate who campaigned in a state that did not abide by the new calendar. The candidate would be stripped at the party convention of delegates won in that state.

The party adopted a broad definition of campaigning, barring candidates from giving speeches, attending party events, mailing literature or running television advertisements.

But even DNC members were unsure how effective the punishment would be, particularly if the states doing the leapfrogging are small and offer few delegates.

Several potential candidates said they would still campaign in New Hampshire, even if it moves its primary forward, arguably more interested in winning the media coverage and momentum that comes with a victory there than they are in losing the state's 18 delegates, which could happen under the new rules.

Among the potential candidates vowing to campaign in New Hampshire: Gov. Bill Richardson of New Mexico, former Gov. Mark Warner of Virginia, and Sens. Evan Bayh of Indiana, Chris Dodd of Connecticut and John Kerry of Massachusetts.

The calendar dispute was the only major public glimpse of party infighting at the meeting. With polls showing positive trends for Democrats, the session was filled with optimism, something party Chairman Howard Dean cautioned against.

"We're not used to being in this position in the last couple years," Dean told party members. "Don't get giddy. Don't get optimistic."

Material from The New York Times, The Associated Press, Chicago Tribune and Los Angeles Times is included in this report.