The 2008 Primaries: A Long, Hard Slog?
For a while, it looked as if the 2008 presidential primary season would be over in the blink of an eye, with a few big names raising and spending unprecedented sums and the outcome for both parties determined by early February.
This scenario gained traction after more than two dozen states moved up their caucuses and primaries to the first six weeks of 2008 in a bid to enhance their influence over the presidential contest and undercut the traditional role of Iowa and New Hampshire as kingmakers. But with none of the candidates able to break from the pack on the Republican side, and a relatively poor debate performance by Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton last week giving her two chief Democratic rivals a possible opening, talk of an extended primary fight has become more than just a political junkie’s pipe dream.
With so many early primary elections crammed into the schedule, some analysts and neutral observers now believe that several candidates from each party will be able to claim enough states to keep them viable well beyond the so-called Tsunami Tuesday on Feb. 5.
He goes on to describe two Democratic and three Republican scenarios.