CHICAGO — Democrats are laying aside the debate over issues and philosophy and turning to something more prosaic -- rejiggering the political calendar -- as a way to boost the party's White House prospects in 2008.
Barring a last-minute shift, Democratic leaders meeting here are expected to add Nevada and South Carolina to the states that hold early primaries, alongside perennials Iowa and New Hampshire.
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Saturday August 19, 2006 Home Edition Main News Part A Page 2 National Desk 1 inches; 59 words Type of Material: Correction
Democratic calendar: An article in Thursday's Section A on proposed changes in the political calendar said the Democratic National Committee was considering a plan to add Nevada and South Carolina to the states that hold early primaries, alongside Iowa and New Hampshire. Iowa's vote is a caucus, and the proposal would make the Nevada contest a caucus as well.
The move is the main business at the Democratic National Committee's summer meeting, which opened Thursday in Chicago. It would be the most significant change in the presidential nominating process in years, and hasten the front-loading that has already transformed the contest from a months-long slog into a sprint lasting just a few weeks.
Many political observers in Iowa and New Hampshire bitterly oppose the change; there is even talk of pushing their balloting into late 2007 to leapfrog any interlopers and preserve New Hampshire's historic preeminence. The proposal also has produced more than a few knocks on Nevada and the louche life associated with Las Vegas.
"It is said that the Democratic Party has a moral values problem," Ken Bode, a veteran political analyst now teaching at DePauw University in Indiana, wrote in a recent Indianapolis Star commentary. "Adding images of flying dice and spinning slot machines with the surrounding sex industry isn't likely to help."
But leaders of the national party appear undeterred.
"Including two more states will not only be good for our country, it will be good for our party and good for our nominee," said Donna Brazile, a longtime Democratic strategist and one of the leading advocates for the calendar change. "It will be good for them to get out to other regions, rather than spending the next 18 months in two small states."
Although Iowa and New Hampshire enjoy storied political histories, critics say the two lack the ethnic diversity and metropolitan texture needed to produce well-rounded presidential nominees. Roughly 95% of the populations of Iowa and New Hampshire are white, whereas nearly 30% of South Carolina residents are black, according to the most recent U.S. census data.
Moreover, Democrats are increasingly eyeing the West as a key battleground, following the party's gains across the Rocky Mountain region in 2004.
