I predicted this would happen

Months ago I predicted that states would break away from party regulations and hold Presidential Primaries right after Jan 1, 2008.

It will be interesting how the National Parties deal with this.

Florida Cuts Ahead of Primary Line, Despite Parties’ Threat to Push Back
By Rachel Kapochunas 4:45 PM; May. 04, 2007 Email This Article
Florida officials are going ahead with their plans to jump the line in the already front-loaded presidential nominating process, moving legislation that will set Jan. 29 as its 2008 primary date — and daring penalties threatened by national Democratic and Republican party officials who are trying to restrain all but a small handful of states from holding their events before Feb. 5.
The bill rescheduling the Florida primary from its original date in March, cleared by the state legislature Thursday, now awaits a promised signature from Republican Gov. Charlie Crist.
“With an earlier presidential primary, Florida will now take its rightful place near the front of the line in determining the next leader of the free world,” Crist said in a statement Thursday.
The rush of states to the front of the primary and caucus calendar has been occurring in stages over a couple of decades, but has accelerated as the nation approaches a rare presidential election in 2008 that is void of an heir apparent for either party’s nomination.
California, New Jersey, and New York are among a growing list of states that have officially moved their primaries to Feb. 5, creating the latest rendition of a presidential “Super Tuesday.” They were joined most recently on April 30 by Tennessee, where Democratic Gov. Phil Bredesen signed a bill shifting the state's primary date to Feb. 5.
But Florida is pushing the envelope further by picking Jan. 29, muscling into the territory occupied thus far by the traditional first-in-the-nation Iowa caucuses (currently penciled in for Jan. 14) and the New Hampshire primary (expected to be held Jan. 22); two new early events handpicked by the Democratic National Committee (DNC), Jan. 19 caucuses in Nevada and a Jan. 29 primary in South Carolina; and a South Carolina Republican primary scheduled for Feb. 2.
The national parties warned Florida that any state slating its contest earlier than Feb. 5 without express permission will lose half its delegates to the party’s national conventions in the late summer of 2008. In addition, Democratic Party rules stipulate that any candidate who campaigns in a state that has violated Democratic scheduling rules will forfeit delegates the state retains — in effect, shutting out the state altogether.


The entire story....

http://www.cqpolitics.com/2007/05/florida_cuts_ahead_of_primary.html

Captain Mark