Officials from the Democratic Party this week released a draft of a presidential nomination calendar that would put five states before Iowa, threatening its position as the first nominating state in the country, according to The Washington Post.
The "draft for discussion" outlines three criteria for the selection of early nominating states. The criteria include diversity, competitiveness in the general election, and the state's ability to ensure a "fair, transparent and inclusive" procedure.
The Post noted that Iowa has little racial or ethnic diversity in its population, is not currently viewed as a swing state, and holds a nominating caucus instead of a statewide primary.
The newspaper added that the Rules and Bylaws Committee "will evaluate applications and select no more than five states" that will hold a contest before the first Tuesday in March.
The committee was expected to discuss the draft document on Monday, and the panel’s co-chairs wrote in an email to members that the document was meant only "to provide you an opportunity to review and offer commentary, and should not be interpreted as a proposal for voting purposes."
Co-chairs James Roosevelt Jr. and Lorraine Miller told the Post in a statement that they are going to "continue to let the process play out, as it does every four years."
Jeff Kaufmann, chair of the Iowa Republican Party and the head of the GOP committee that supervises the presidential schedule, told NBC News that Democrats will "find out pretty quickly that the cure to what they see as the problem is going to be worse than the problem."
He noted that the GOP attempted a similar move in the past, but it failed because Republicans couldn’t come up with a better alternative.
"You just don't click your fingers and a bunch of people bloviating at a committee meeting, many of whom have never even run an election themselves, actually come up with something that's better," Kaufmann added.
Theodore Bunker ✉
Theodore Bunker, a Newsmax writer, has more than a decade covering news, media, and politics.
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