Democratic party officials concerned about the date of Iowa’s Caucuses are keeping their eyes on action in Michigan’s legislature. Scott Brennan is chairman of the Iowa Democratic Party. "Michigan, obviously, has made noises about moving and so we’ll have to see what and see what Michigan actually does," he says.
Michigan officials unhappy with the attention states like Iowa and New Hampshire receive from presidential candidates have long talked about moving up the date of their state’s contest in the presidential nominating season. Brennan expects Michigan’s legislature to make a final decision in the "next couple of weeks."
This past weekend, the Democratic National Committee’s Rules and Bylaws panel told Florida it would have no delegates at the party’s 2008 nominating convention if Florida’s primary is moved ahead a week, as Florida’s Republican-led legislature plans.
"I think for Iowa’s purposes, it was a very good weekend," Brennan says."…Michigan I would hope would understand that if it happened to Florida, it’s going to happen to them, too."
Florida Democrats, however, have been given 30 days to undo the plan to hold their primary on January 29th. The upheaval in the calendar of events in the presidential nominating season prompted Iowa’s governor to declare earlier this month that the Iowa Caucuses will be held in 2008 and will not be moved forward into December.
Party chairman Brennan will only specify the month, not the date, of the Caucuses. "(In) January of 2008 we’ll have a caucus," Brennan says.