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Michigan Dems postpone challenge to N.H. primary
From Robert Yoon
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Michigan Democratic leaders are delaying a plan to move the party's 2004 presidential caucus to January 27 -- the same day as New Hampshire's traditional first-in-the-nation primary, party officials told CNN Tuesday. The state party is close to finalizing a compromise with the Democratic National Committee that would set Michigan's caucus at February 7, 11 days later than the Granite State's primary, the officials said. "People were becoming concerned that people who shouldn't be at each other's throats, were at each other's throats," said Debbie Dingell, a Michigan DNC member and wife of U.S. Rep. John Dingell, D-Michigan. Traditionally, Iowa has the first presidential caucus and New Hampshire the first primary. DNC rules prohibit states other than Iowa and New Hampshire from holding primaries or caucuses before February 3, and states that violate the rule lose delegates to the presidential nominating convention. But key Michigan Democrats, led by U.S. Sen. Carl Levin and Debbie Dingell, had threatened to break DNC rules and encroach on New Hampshire's primary date. The proposed compromise, adopted by the Michigan AFL-CIO Tuesday, would preserve the primacy of Iowa and New Hampshire for 2004, but aims to end that status by 2008. "Labor wants to see permanent change in the primary calendar in a way that keeps everyone from killing each other," Debbie Dingell said. Under the compromise, the DNC would establish a commission to re-examine Iowa and New Hampshire's place on the primary calendar and address the issue during the 2004 Democratic National Convention in Boston, Massachusetts. "We go through this every four years," said Kathy Sullivan, chairwoman of the New Hampshire Democratic Party. "New Hampshire and Iowa have always had to talk about the importance of grassroots campaigning and the importance of the process we have now." According to Dingell, negotiations between the state party and the DNC are still underway. "I think everyone is operating in good faith," she said. "But the DNC would have to honor moving in this direction. We need a permanent change." Although national and state party officials expect the February 7 compromise date to hold, the agreement has not been finalized. The Michigan Democratic State Central Committee must officially ratify the new caucus date at a meeting on April 26. The DNC's deadline for states to submit their final caucus and primary dates is May 1. "We hope the issue can be resolved quickly. We need to put together an effective and balanced primary process to ensure that our candidates have the opportunity to blanket the country and talk to voters on the issues that are most important to them," said Guillermo Meneses, a DNC spokesman.
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