Democrats Quarrel Over Primary Dates
By SAM HANANEL
The Associated Press
Wednesday, September 3, 2003; 5:30 PM
WASHINGTON - National Democrats and Washington, D.C., officials are at odds over whose primary comes first in the political calendar - New Hampshire or the District of Columbia.
Looking to highlight the district's lack of voting rights in Congress, the D.C. City Council voted this past summer to move the District of Columbia primary from May to Jan. 13, 2004 - two weeks before the tentative date of Jan. 27 for New Hampshire's primary and less than a week before the Iowa caucuses.
The brash move incurred the wrath of the Democratic National Committee, which threatened not to seat the district's delegates at the national convention if they are chosen before the New Hampshire contest.
So a compromise was reached. While the District of Columbia's primary vote will be first, delegates will not formally be selected until caucuses Feb. 14. In the world of elections, such a nonbinding vote is known as a "beauty contest" - not so much a presidential primary as it is a straw poll to show voter opinion.
For that reason, according to DNC officials, New Hampshire retains its hallowed first-in-the-nation crown. The compromise also satisfies official party rules, which prohibit other jurisdictions from moving primaries ahead of the Granite State.
"I don't think it's just a question of the words, it has to do with the start of the race for the Democratic nomination," said DNC spokesman Tony Welch. "And in the race for the nomination, New Hampshire is the first primary."
That hasn't stopped activists such as Sean Tenner from arguing that the District of Columbia vote is the nation's real first primary.
"We made our primary first to draw attention to this injustice - and to make the presidential candidates address D.C.'s plight in order to secure our votes," said Tenner, executive director of the activist group D.C. Democracy Fund, which pushed for the early vote.
Tenner argues that the District of Columbia primary is binding - in a way. Three of the city's 28 super-delegates - party officials beholden to no one - have already committed to vote for the primary winner, and his organization is pressuring others to do the same. Only 10 delegates are chosen by the caucuses.
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