ASHINGTON - The Democratic Party, considering changes to its presidential nominating calendar for 2004, began hearing yesterday from state officials unhappy with the influence New Hampshire and Iowa hold in picking the White House nominee.
The current system, which leads off with the Iowa caucus and New Hampshire primary, is ''fundamentally wrong,'' not to mention unfair, Senator Carl Levin of Michigan said at the first of four hearings by the party's Rules Committee. The others are set for early next year.
The system now encourages presidential candidates to pay closer attention to a particular state's needs. Levin noted that Vice President Al Gore flew to New Hampshire this weekend for his 18th campaign trip to the state.
''Eighteen visits to one state - folks, it affects policy,'' Levin said.
The party rules guarantee that voters in New Hampshire and Iowa pick first in the nominating process.
Defending the arrangement, Iowa Senator Tom Harkin said the two states give candidates without name recognition or money the chance to campaign alongside better-known and -financed politicians.
Governor Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire cited the 1976 race, in which Jimmy Carter, a relatively unknown governor from Georgia, sought the nomination.
''Because he won New Hampshire, he was able to take his message to the rest of the nation,'' she said.
She said the GOP's similar system has helped Republican Senator John McCain of Arizona ''level the playing field'' this year against the front-runner, George W. Bush, who has raised much more money.
The Democratic Party allows only Iowa and New Hampshire to hold caucuses or primaries before March 7 without penalty. The Republican National Committee does not impose such limits, and states have crowded the GOP calendar with many February elections.
The DNC chairman, Joe Andrew, said he has been working on the issue with his GOP counterpart.
Among the options:
Providing states with incentives - such as ''bonus'' delegates - to hold their primaries later in the year.
A regional delegate selection system in which primaries would be held the first Tuesdays of March, April, May, and June. Under that system, however, Iowa and New Hampshire probably still would be allowed to hold their elections first.
