ASHINGTON - With a healthy dose of grumbling, the Democratic National Committee gave New Hampshire's Feb. 1 presidential primary the official go-ahead yesterday despite the contretemps over scheduling with Iowa.
Iowa will hold its first-in-the-nation caucuses on Jan. 24, eight days before New Hampshire's first-in-the-nation primary. The two states faced off after New Hampshire Secretary of State William Gardner scheduled the primary for Feb. 1 to avoid a conflict with Delaware Republicans. That, in turn, forced Iowa to move back its caucuses, to maintain the traditional breathing room with New Hampshire's primary.
The Rules Committee of the DNC voted to approve the two dates, even though they are earlier than the party's rules permit. In fact, the committee could have voted to punish New Hampshire by taking away 25 percent of its district-level delegates to the party's nominating convention and refusing to seat the state's DNC members at next summer's convention in Los Angeles.
Under the party's rules, no state is allowed to hold its primary or caucus before March 7, 2000, without a waiver, except for Iowa and New Hampshire. Iowa is allowed to hold its caucuses 15 days before that date, and New Hampshire is allowed to hold its primary seven days before March 7.
US Senator Carl Levin, the Michigan Democrat who has long opposed the two states' special status, protested yesterday that no other state is so well-treated.
''It gives new definition to chutzpah. For those who don't know the definition, it's Iowa and New Hampshire,'' Levin said.
Don Fowler, a former DNC chairman, said the party's treatment of other states is ''patent, stark, gross unfairness.''
Fowler said the committee should allow Michigan, South Carolina, Arizona, and Washington to hold their primaries before the March 7 date because Iowa and New Hampshire are going earlier next year. His motion was set aside until Friday.
During the meeting, New Hampshire and Iowa officials all blamed Gardner, a Democrat, for their predicament, asking the Rules Committee members to forgive their requests for a new date.
Kathy Sullivan, New Hampshire's Democratic chairwoman, was apologetic. ''We regret that we have to come to you,'' she said. ''A lot of this was outside our control.''
Iowa Democratic chairman Rob Tully said Gardner's move ''created havoc and hardship on both Iowa and New Hampshire.''
New Hampshire law requires Gardner to set the date seven days before any comparable event. Because Delaware Republicans decided to hold their primary on Feb. 8, that forced Gardner to schedule New Hampshire for Feb. 1, creating the domino effect.
