The second most interesting story out of South Carolina today, other than the indictment of the state treasurer on charges of distributing crack cocaine, is the vote by the South Carolina General Assembly to overturn Gov. Mark Sanford's veto of the 2008 budget.
Contained within that budget is a proviso ordering the state board of elections to pay for the presidential primaries.
With this new budget freedom, expect to see the South Carolina Republican Party take advantage. It's expected that chairman Katon Dawson will move his party's primary, currently scheduled for Jan 29, to at least a week earlier.
It's not clear whether the Democratic state chair, Carol Khare Fowler, will follow suit. The DNC has promised to protect the Democratic primary in South Carolina, and so far, Fowler has kept her cards to herself.
Michigan is watching the South Carolina date closely. The state GOP has decided to buck the rules and may hold its primary on Jan 29., incurring a delegate penalty of 50%. The state Democratic Party is thinking of moving their contest even earlier.
And New Hampshire's Secretary of State, Bill Gardner, reserves the right to move his primary from Jan. 22 to Jan 15. That would, of course, push Iowa back to Jan 7 or 8.
Who benefits? It's not clear. The political world might only be able to figure out in retrospect. It matters a lot whether the '08 nomination turns into a delegate accumulation race, or whether the recent tradition of annointing early, momentum-fueled winners holds. But Feb 5., more than any other date, will decide which route the eventual nominee will take. So it's not at all clear -- and probably won't be clear until right after the S.C. primary -- whether it was a beauty contest or something more tangible.
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