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Subscribe to RSSCOLUMBIA, S.C. -- Blaming Florida's primary selection committee for creating "chaos" in the primary calendar, South Carolina GOP Chairman Chad Connelly announced that the Palmetto State will hold its primary on Saturday, Jan. 21st, 10 days before Florida's on the 31st.
"We will hold our primary on a date that not only benefits the citizens of South Carolina and maximizes our voters' time with the candidates but also in a way that will benefit Republican voters all across America," Connelly said.
This most likely means that the Iowa and New Hampshire contests take place in early and mid-January.
He said 10 days was enough time for candidates to invest in South Carolina's relatively small media market, but added that the compressed calendar would harm his state party's fundraising efforts and voter's chances to meet the hopefuls.
"I lose a month of fundraising time," he complained. "We lose a month of people getting to know these candidates."
But Connelly insisted that candidates would not skip South Carolina to spend more time in Florida.
"Any candidate who ignores our state does so at great peril," he said.
Connelly also called for the Republican National Committee to strip Florida's delegates from the Republican National Convention and to keep intact all delegates in South Carolina and the rest of the early states (Iowa, New Hampshire, and Nevada), who will have to move their primaries up to January, against RNC rules, because of Florida's move.
He also said conversations with the leaders in the other three early states have indicated to him that a December primary will not happen -- though NBC's Jo Ling Kent reports New Hampshire's Secretary of State Bill Gardner, who has unilateral control over the Granite State's primary date, continued to float December as a possibility. Connelly also said South Carolina will be holding a presidential debate in the days leading up to the primary, but that a date had not yet been secured.
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Nice to know where the intrepid First Read journalists will be spending their New Years Eve... lol
IA & NH are charming that time of year! lol
Make sure to bring your snow shoes... ;o)
Maybe the GOP will do as Hillary Clinton did, spend thousands on snow shovels for the folks--disregarding the fact that Iowans are quite familiar with snow and already had their own.
Iowa can't wait to vote for change in 2012! I think alot of 1st time Iowa voters learned thier lesson in 2008......
I heard someone say that the GOP was pandering to the Tea party. That is not quite true. They are pandering to Koch Industries, the major purveyors of all things Tea Party. They all want that lucrative Koch Brothers money. I can't believe the media is so focused on the Magician's deception that they ignore the sleight of hand and the obvious subterfuge. It is going to be an interesting election cycle.
Jody, Iowa
It isn't snow shovels the GOP shouldl be handing out. More like manure forks. That will come in handy when listening to he GOP candidates.
Oh, GOD, three more months of reading endless stories every day about Perry/Romney/Christie/Cain/Paul/Bachmann/Santorum/Gingrich/ Et al.....
and all the different kinds of conservatives in South Carolina!
Who else is there to read about....Obama's pitiful so you won't see much in term of stories about him.
Seriously, all you're going to hear for 14 months from this president is how unfair our country is.
What a joke.
Who knows Amy maybe it'll all be over by Feb/Mar depending on who wins the most
I want it to go on as long as possible - the lengthier the primary the less time the nut job who comes out on top will have to attempt to pivot to the center...
I'm selfish like that sometime... lol
If Obama poll numbers keep tanking, there will be plenty of stories about him possibly not running for a second term, count on it.
Though not at Obama worshipping MSNBC.
$16 Muffins? Hey, Bob- what can you tell us about this?
Seems Bill-O the clown took Jon Stewart to task for not knowing about those high-end muffins. Well, turns out the right is distorting the truth (again) about this one. That $16 covered the muffins as well as the rest of a continental breakfast, including tea and coffee, as well as the free use of 450 seats in the Capitol Hilton.
Why is it so hard for these jackasses to try the truth once in a while? Bob- What's wrong with these people, anyway?
drive-by-observer
I heard that $16 muffin story on ABC News (I accidently landed on that channel, I'm still boycotting them for life). I wonder if they ever broadcast a retraction after the details came out? Oh that liberal media.
Rob in ma-3189632
Who else is there to read about....Obama's pitiful so you won't see much in term of stories about him.
Seriously, all you're going to hear for 14 months from this president is how unfair our country is.
What a joke
Rob
Polls in this case mean zippo since the President out polls them all and has the public including Republicans behind him. You are a clown and amusingly predictable just like like the rest of the carnival barkers and after birthers.
BTW: Do you read the papers either on line or from the news stands; does Wall Street protests, Ohio, Wisconsin come to mind?
Amy ABC gets their nightly news from Fox (aka tea people GOP republican propaganda machine).
Keep hoping Bob. By any chance are you kin to no joe? You're beginning to sound a lot like her.
$16 muffin without telling the whole story should be something we're all used to by now. I stopped watching ABC ages ago for news. It's the half-the-facts station.
ABC my new favorite letters. It is everywhere to remind you daily.
vote for Anybody But Conservatives.
ABC 2012
Feisty: "the lengthier the primary the less time the nut job who comes out on top will have to attempt to pivot to the center..."
Ummmmm, you MUST mean Obama when you say "pivot to the center." AFTER ALL, Obama kept Bush's war strategies in place after campaigning against him for being a "war criminal." Obama left GITMO open after criticizing Bush for doing it. Obama wants to gut $500 billion from Medicare after scaring seniors that the nasty Repubs were going to do it. Obama got 3/4 of the donations Goldman Sachs made in 08 and now he's saying how evil the "fat cats" are....... and.......As far as the "dream act" goes, well, what more can we say? We all know about who "pivots" to the center.
I don't think it was so much a pivot to the center as an attempt at reaching out a hand to those who oppose. End result, the right promptly spit in the president's face. I really do not think you're going to see much more "pivoting" or reaching out any time soon. You loons on the right took care of that with your empty idea bucket and your insistence on handing over the treasury to the Koch brothers and their interests. Your entire party leadership spends their time falling all over each other to see who can capitulate first to a small band of intellectual cripples who as time goes on are finding it harder and harder to figure out exactly WHAT it is that they really want. Sooner or later you people will figure out that you cannot dismantle the government and have the country survive. The world is a very complex place and people who hang tea bags from their hats just cannot grasp all of those realities. They long for simpler times to fit their simple minds. It won't happen regardless of the results of your campaign to find the biggest buffoon in your midst to offer to the country as its leader.
Amy -- Exactly my thoughts -- thank you. The only thing nice about topics regarding the Teapublican primary is how disinterested the right-wing riff raff is.
Well I guess we must endure the blow-by-blow primary silliness and then the negative ads. Gees, talk about voter disenfranchisement. It's not going to work--you will not break me down--I will vote, and I will vote a straight Democratic ticket this time!
Amused -- Have you noticed how right-wing pundits are practically begging the president not to give up on trying to compromise with Teapublicans? The stall tactics were supposed to work, damn it! The president and Dems are supposed to keep playing the We Pretend to Cooperate game. Come back!
Carry on...
TruePatriot-445959
Me too! I'm voting for anyone besides Olympia Snowe.
Oh Feisty! Yes, let's watch them deny climate change, deny evolution, insult gay soldiers, threaten Hispanic people, and talk nonsense for three more months so we can use it against them in the general, when they try to act all normal-like.
Didn't Obama tell a crowd of Hispanics that Repubs are "the enemy" because Repubs are in favor of securing our borders and enforcing our sovereignty? It's interesting though. Because Obama has deported more illegal aliens in his term so far than Bush did in 2 terms. Maybe the Repubs should use that to "threaten" Hispanic people.
At this rate, I'll be headed to the Iowa Caucus Christmas Eve. After the primary/caucus fiasco in 2007/08, one would have thought FL et al would not have been so eager to give up half their delegates by jumping in line.
That is why they call it Flora-duh.
It strikes me as silly, just as it did when the Democrats when through the same thing. What would be wrong with a national primary? Well, I guess it wouldn't give the media as much free programming.
All you fine Democrats , Google American Socialist party. You will find no less than 70 Democrat Senate and Congress people, No Republicans. Your wonderful Barny Frank and Oregon's Biggest lier , Little Peter Defazio!
Phi S.:
Although I am not a Democrat, I have to ask, "What's your point?"
Careful Phi
Linking Democrats to socialism, you might give socialism a good name. After all, it's Democratic policies that create jobs, get young adults insured through their parents' policies and KILL TERRORISTS.
REALLY? Did you just Say that?
You would just love for someone to give Socialism a good name wouldn't you? Then it would be so much easier for people to swallow the cr@p you are peddling.
As for JOBS... What JOBS? Remember... you guys are supposed to be crying because we need jobs and no one is passing Obama's jobs bill! Remember all the suffering people? How many jobs has he REALLY created?
Finally, regarding your comment about getting young "adults" insurance... you recapped the democratic philosophy perfectly when you said "through their parent's policies". Someone has to take care of them... all of them... Heaven forbid young adults should learn to stand on their own two feet.
Much better for the young person to be laying on the floor being cheered to let die by republicans because he doesn't have health insurance.
Why shouldn't kids still in college be on their parents insurance? What has that got to do with young people learning to stand on their own two feet?
The rest of your post is just as illogical. In 2010 the republicans ran on jobs, jobs, jobs. Where are the jobs? How does holding up the American Jobs Act create jobs?
We all know the reason why we can't have a jobs bill is the republicans have to protect the rich from any sacrifice. The rest of us have shared sacrifice why the rich have no sacrifice. That is the way that Norquist and the republican tea party plan to keep it.
The donors and Norquist are important while we are just the people who elected them to represent us are not.
Which is more evil, Socialism or Capitalism? And try to explain why? You can't or you won't, but the answer is same either way.
How does holding up the American Jobs Act create jobs?
Maybe you should ask Harry Reid this question. As I understand it, he is the holdup....
ABO 2012
wrong the Senate will take up the action next wek
Have all these candidates submitted their birth certificates (long form)? They should certainly be required to do so before running for the highest office in the land.
Once again, another leftie based story.... Sound like all the idiots on MSNBC.... Rachel, Ed, Chris, Lawrence... The four dumbest leftie losers on tv..... All four of their shows combined, have less veiwers than the Bill O'Reilly show on Fox.. Ha. Ha.
Texas is NOT in the USA South.
Why do we here in the US have the "What's in it for me mentality" yet we call ourselves Christians? Why can't we look at the Big Picture? We profess to be a religious and tolerant yet we spout hatred toward each other and run and hide behind the Constitution.
Did the Roman Empire fail because of Socialism or Capitalism