It's moving day. Michael Shear of the Washington Post reports the South Carolina GOP is moving its primary to Jan. 19 to preserve its status as "first in the South," a position challenged by Florida recently moving its GOP primary up to January 29. The move by South Carolina, to be announced today by state chair Katon Dawson at a joint press conference with New Hampshire Secretary of State Bill Gardner, will force New Hampshire to move its primary forward to uphold its legal obligation to vote at least one week before any other primary. And New Hampshire's move will in turn shift the date of the Iowa caucuses - which are also mandated by law to take place eight days before any other state - potentially pushing the first votes of the 2008 primary into December of 2007.
The Politico's Roger Simon reports that "very reliable sources assure" him that Gardner won't announce a new date today. Simon also writes that if New Hampshire simply votes a week before South Carolina, it would go on Jan. 12, but if it sticks to a traditional Tuesday, it would vote on Jan. 8.
In related news, Florida's GOP chair will fight RNC penalties for his state's Jan. 29 primary, reports the Tampa Tribune's William March and Billy House. Chair Jim Greer is asking his state party to chose a full slate of delegates to be seated at the convention -- even if the RNC refuses to seat them as a way of penalizing the party for its early primary. The DNC has threatened to cut in half Florida's Democratic delegation and penalize candidates who campaign there, if it goes on the 29th.
Meanwhile, Michigan Democrats could move up from Feb. 9 as they've "long eyed" New Hampshire's kingmaker status, reports the Detroit News' Gordon Trowbridge. The Michigan GOP may move up to Jan. 29 to match the Florida primary -- and the party may even allocate its delegates with a convention of party activists instead of a regular vote.
Nevada had been set to caucus between Iowa and New Hampshire on Jan. 19 - and still may despite changes to the calendar. If Nevada's caucus date stays put, it will go on the same day as South Carolina, which is a problem for Nevada Republicans whose caucus can't compete with the "make-or-break" South Carolina GOP primary on the same day, reports the Las Vegas Review-Journal's Molly Ball.
So far it looks like the end result will be a longer general election campaign. Bloomberg's Kristin Jensen writes that the "still-evolving calendar will require tough choices even for candidates with plenty of cash," like Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, Rudy Giuliani and Mitt Romney. Candidates will be forced to "calibrate budgets for as many as 23 other states that may hold contests by Feb. 5, much earlier than ever before."
In other news, Romney attacked Giuliani's tenure as mayor for giving "sanctuary" to illegal immigrants. Giuliani's campaign responded that Romney may change his position before the day was over and that New York under Giuliani was the "safest large city in America... not a haven for illegality of any kind."
Meanwhile, Fred Thompson tapped his former Senate campaign manager, Bill Lacey, to head his presidential campaign. Lacey's credited for turning around Thompson's 1994 campaign that made up a 20-point gap to win. Thompson will reportedly visit Iowa for the first time next Friday.
John McCain attached two big names to his campaign yesterday: Colin Powell, who made a donation to McCain but hasn't endorsed him, and renowed Republican fundraiser Robert Mosbacher Sr, who is close to President Bush (fueling speculation that Bush could be behind the move).
On the Democratic side, Barack Obama expressed sympathy for the job of Pakistani president Pervez Musharraf and said its important that the U.S. be a constructive ally with them [Pakistan] in dealing with al-Qaida."
Get these and today's other election stories at RCP's Politics and Elections page.
