owa and New Hampshire remained at loggerheads yesterday over the scheduling of their 2000 caucus and primary, with the national parties refusing to intervene in the contretemps.
''The whole thing is totally out of control,'' said William Galvin, Massachusetts' secretary of state. ''Maybe we should all go to the Iowa pork festival and pick the president. It makes more sense than what's going on here.''
New Hampshire Secretary of State William Gardner recently set the state's first-in-the-nation primary for Feb. 1, jamming Iowa, which had planned to hold its caucuses on Jan. 31.
But New Hampshire state law requires the primary to be held at least seven days prior to any other primary, and Delaware Republicans are holding their primary on Feb. 8.
Iowa has its own law, requiring the caucuses to be held at least eight days before any similar event. But state officials are threatening to ignore it rather than change the date. Even if the caucuses were moved back a week, hotels in Des Moines are already booked with visitors for a pork festival, the Iowa-Illinois turfgrass association convention, and the Iowa Nursery and Landscape Association meeting.
''We're not moving,'' said Joe Shannahan, press secretary for Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack. Shannahan said Iowans hope to abide by their law without actually changing the date of the caucuses.
''We are still hopeful that New Hampshire is going to move back to February 8, like everybody wants them to,'' Shannahan said. ''Both political parties, election officials in Iowa and New Hampshire, and the campaigns want this thing to be resolved and to have New Hampshire hold their primary on February 8. It's a problem, but we didn't cause it and we want the New Hampshire secretary of state to fix it.''
Gardner, however, has no plans to budge.
''I did what I did this time, the same way I have done it for six presidential primaries now,'' said Gardner, who has held his office since 1976. ''We don't care if they go the 31st, that's up to them out there.''
Meanwhile, neither the Republican National Committee nor the Democratic National Committee has any plans to impose sanctions on the state parties, or to intervene in any way.
''We still hope the state parties and local officials will work together to find a practical, common-sense solution,'' said RNC spokesman Mark Pfiefle.
New Hampshire Governor Jeanne Shaheen initially issued a statement in support of Gardner's decision, but sources say she and her staff are unhappy about the Feb. 1 date.
''She is concerned and wants to make sure New Hampshire's primary is protected and remains first, not just this year but into the future,'' said Pamela Walsh, Shaheen's press secretary. Walsh said Shaheen is ''looking into options to ensure that.''
