Not wanting to be on the bench when it comes to the 2008 Presidential primaries, New York State will join a list of other states by holding their primaries on Feb.5.
New York Democtratic Gov. Eliot Spitzer signed legislation on Monday that will move the New York primaries up one month from March 4 to Feb.5. This move by New York is setting the stage for a mid-winter showdown of Presidential candidates that could leave America facing the longest general election campaign in United States history.
With California and neighboring New Jersey having all ready moved their primaries up to Feb.5, New York felt they also had to make the move if they still wanted to be a 'player' in deciding who will be the Democrat and Republicans candidates for President.
A dozen more states are also considering moving up to the Feb.5 primary date that will set the stage for this day in February to become known as "Super-Duper Tuesday' and not just "Super Tuesday" as it has been known in the past. This date in February also comes just 22 days after the Iowa caucuses lead off the race for the 2008 White House.
This moves appears that it will favor Dem. NY Senator Hillary Clinton and former Rep. Mayor of NYC Rudy Giuliani. Giuliani's camp had been pushing Gov. Spitzer to move up the primary, and when the camp of Hillary Clinton gave their blessing to this move; the move became a done deal when the New York's Republican-led state Senate and Democratic-controlled Assembly last month passed a bill to approve this shift in the New York primary date.
Bill Gardner, the New Hampshire secretary of state, feels that all these states moving to Feb.5 could do more harm than good. Mr.Gardner thinks the race for each parties nomination could be over by this date, and because of this 'rush' to judgement the political process could be harmed.
Maurice Carroll, director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute, feels this will just give each political party more time to take 'pot shots' at each other candidates.
Chris Lehane, a veteran Democratic presidential campaign operative, feels with nearly every state moving up earlier in the year to hold primaries will make it very difficult for the second-tier candidates to get their message out because they may not be able to afford campaigning in all these states with the Feb.5 primary date.
Some political strategists suggests that having a super primary date will benefit a well oiled (lots of money) candidate who stumbles in the four earlier primaries. Other political analysts think holding a super primary so early in the year will cause the candidates to focus more on one region of the country.
The National Association of Secretaries of State shows Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Delaware, Missouri, Oklahoma and Utah joining California, New Jersey and New York on Feb. 5.
If both the Democrat and Republicans parties do have their candidates selected by Feb.5, the American public will be able to look forward to 9 months of name calling, false ads, and more hate mongering than ever leading up to the general election vote in November.
Read more at Yahoo News
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