The Importance of Being Iowa and New Hampshire

Recent events have tested just how important Iowa and New Hampshire’s “First in the Nation” status may turn out to be, for this presidential election and in the future. South Carolina Republicans announced in New Hampshire this past week that they will be moving their primary up to January 19th. Many see this as a nod of respect to the Granite State’s primary which will now most likely move to the beginning weeks of January. It was also seen as a hit to Iowa who will likely have to have their “First in the Nation” Caucus the December holidays. Add to that a no-show of Rudy Giuliani and John McCain at the Republican Straw Poll in Iowa over the weekend, a general campaigning trend of large rallies over retail politics and many other states trying to move their primaries and caucus closer to the beginning. We’ll look at how the presidential primary is becoming more “nationalized” and how recent events may help or hurt campaigning in the Granite and Hawkeye states.

Guests

• Dante Scala: Associate Professor of Political Science at UNH and author of the GraniteProf political blog
• Tom Beaumont: political columnist for the Des Moines Register in Iowa

We'll also hear from

• William Gardner: New Hampshire Secretary of State
• Emmett Buell: Richard Lugar Professor of Public Policy at Denison University in Ohio who’s written and edited several books on the presidential selection process including his latest, Enduring Controversies in Presidential Nominating Politics
• Lee Bandy: political columnist for The "State" Newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina