The Des Moines Register is reporting that Iowa Dems are planning to vote on Sunday on whether to set Jan 3, 2008 as their caucus date. This would allow New Hampshire's secretary of state, Bill Gardner, to set the New Hampshire primary for January 8th.
Iowa Democratic Party officials are expected to vote Sunday on whether to set Jan. 3 as the date for the party's 2008 presidential caucuses, the state party said today.
The date would move the caucuses from the tentatively scheduled Jan. 14 to the same day as the date chosen last week by Iowa Republicans.
A caucus date has been in doubt for months, as states hoping to share some of the spotlight afforded the traditional leadoff states have moved their contests into January.
The Iowa Democrats' central committee, the state party's governing body, will receive notification this afternoon of the Sunday call, scheduled for 8 p.m.
"On that call, it will be recommended that we go Jan. 3," Iowa Democratic Party spokeswoman Carrie Giddins said.
There has been endless speculation on what the Dems in Iowa would pick as their caucus date and which candidates would benefit from their decision.
January 3rd is a Thursday night, so the news cycle between the results of the Iowa Caucus and a potential New Hampshire primary on the 8th will be short and intense.
Iowa Republicans are already scheduled to caucus on the 3rd, so this would make sure that both parties caucus the same night, eliminating some speculation that people might participate in both caucuses (apparently there are no rules to prevent this.)
The vote by Iowa Dems will take place on Sunday, so perhaps by early next week we will also hear something from New Hampshire and the primary calendar will start to finally fall into place.