Emblem of the Iowa state flag
Via the Des Moines Register:
Iowa GOP leaders, instead of waiting until they know exactly what date New Hampshire will pick, voted to rein in the calendar chaos by locking in a date for the Republican caucuses here.
The Republican Party of Iowa central committee voted unanimously tonight in favor of Jan. 3, with a 7 p.m. start time, Chairman Matt Strawn said.
New Hampshire's plans are still very much up in the air, and have more to do with Nevada's choices than Iowa's:
New Hampshire Secretary of State William Gardner... said Tuesday morning that “all options are still on the table, including a primary before the end of the year.’’
Gardner said he’s not confident that Nevada’s caucus date of Jan. 14 is firm. The state Republican party is under pressure to move the voting back; in fact, one candidate, Jon Huntsman, is boycotting tonight’s debate in Nevada out of solidarity with New Hampshire’s determination to have a substantial head start.
“I don’t know what Nevada is going to end up doing,’’ Gardner said, adding that if the state would reschedule for three days later he would set his state’s primary for Jan. 10. He wouldn’t say what he will do if Nevada refuses to budge.
While some of the lesser candidates (led by Jon Huntsman) have said they'll boycott the Nevada caucuses if the state doesn't switch its date, the frontunners have shown no signs of abandoning the Silver State. Some New Hampshire Republicans are trying to pressure Mitt Romney into following suit, but it sounds like he has no plans to do so:
“Governor Romney is firmly committed to preserving New Hampshire’s first-in-the-nation primary and the critical role it plays in selecting our Republican nominee,” Ryan Williams, a Romney spokesperson, said in a statement. “It is up to each state to determine the date of their primary or caucus. Governor Romney will compete in every nominating contest across the country, regardless of when they may be scheduled, so long as New Hampshire retains its first in the nation primary status.”
Conveniently, Romney can stick to this line because Nevada holds caucuses, not a primary. Nevada also is very likely to deliver a victory for him: He won there in 2008, in part thanks to the state's large Mormon population. It doesn't seem like New Hampshire has any leverage over Romney (or anyone else), so if Nevada doesn't budge, either Bill Gardner will have to climb down or schedule his shindig in December.