Nagle says party calendar may be perilous

A man who has fought to preserve the “First in the Nation” status for Iowa’s Caucuses says the election calendar for 2004 is cause for concern. Officials in many states have moved their presidential primaries and caucuses closer to Iowa in hopes to getting the candidates to compete on their turf. Former Iowa Democratic Party chairman Dave Nagle says the changes may be perilous for the party. Nagle says he’d like to see a “more lengthy progression” to the nomination. He says if the nominee settled upon by March “self-destructs” soon after, the party is “stuck.” But the current chairman of the Iowa Democratic Party says having a short battle for the nomination is better because the winner will be less bruised heading into the general election contest against George Bush. Party chairman Gordon Fischer says with the compressed election campaign, a first-place finish in Iowa has become all important. Fischer says a candidate who does not do well in Iowa or New Hampshire — the state which hosts the nation’s first presidential primary — will find it hard to “catch their footing” and stay in the race.