residential candidates may find themselves knocking on doors on Christmas Day, as New Hampshire yesterday officially set its primary for Feb. 1, the earliest date in history.
Secretary of State William Gardner's decision had a domino effect: Campaigns began accelerating their strategies and schedules; hotels began rearranging reservations for the candidates and the media; and distressed Iowa officials began pressuring national party leaders to stop the early-primary scramble.
Gardner picked the Feb. 1 date because Delaware Republicans were planning to hold their primary on Feb. 8. New Hampshire law requires its primary to be held at least seven days before any similar election.
But Gardner's decision threw Iowa officials into turmoil, since they had been planning on holding presidential caucuses on Jan. 31. By state law, Iowa must hold its event eight days before the next caucus or primary. But Iowa Secretary of State Chet Culver said no one in Iowa wants to move the caucuses back even further to accommodate New Hampshire.
''We have decided as a group that the best solution to this would be to move the Republican date in Delaware to the 15th, have New Hampshire hold its primary on the 8th and Iowa on the 31st,'' said Culver, who has conferred with the chairs of the Iowa Democratic and Republican parties.
''Now the question is, what are we going to do about it?'' Culver said.
Iowa officials are hoping to enlist the aid of Republican National Committee chairman Jim Nicholson to persuade Delaware Republicans to hold their primary later. But RNC officials said it's up to the states to make their own decisions about elections.
Reached at home last night, Gardner said he has no intention of budging, despite Iowa's wishes.
''I've waited a long time to actually set the date,'' he said. ''We're trying to let the candidates and the people prepare in this state.''
The move also surprised officials of the Democratic National Committee, which issued a statement saying, ''The unprecedented move by the New Hampshire secretary of state raises some concerns and certainly confuses the situation.''
In recent years, many states have moved up their primaries in order to exert more influence on the selection of presidential nominees. The result for the 2000 campaign is that 35 states are planning to hold primaries or caucuses before March 14, giving candidates little time to move from state to state and requiring them to raise large sums of money in order to compete effectively.
In New Hampshire, Gardner's decision was hailed as an antidote to the frontloading of the primary process.
''I think it's an excellent idea,'' said Hugh Gregg, the former Republican governor. ''It will serve the country better, because we'll sooner winnow the candidates than we normally do and it will help candidates get organized better for the bigger states.
''Suppose that Gary Bauer wins,'' Gregg continued. ''He needs some time to raise some money to go forward.''
Representative Jim Splaine, the Portsmouth Democrat who wrote the original 1975 law that requires a seven-day window between the state's primary and any similar election, called Gardner ''a genius,'' for his decision to create some breathing room between New Hampshire and the later states.
''In a way, New Hampshire is correcting the mistakes of the other states,'' Splaine said.
A spokesman for Governor Jeanne Shaheen said the governor supports Gardner's decision because she believes it is important to protect New Hampshire's first-in-the-nation primary status.
Most campaigns had banked on competing in the Granite State on Feb. 8, but Secretary of State William Gardner made no secret this year that he would set the date as early as necessary to protect the primary tradition.
Yesterday, most of the campaigns said they would be ready for the ballots to be cast on Feb. 1.
''I don't think it has any effect on the governor or the campaign effort here,'' said Joel Maiola, the New Hampshire campaign manager for Texas Governor George W. Bush. ''We're ready to go any time it's set.''
Mark Longabaugh, New Hampshire state director for Democrat Bill Bradley, said he always anticipated there would be a short window between the first of next year and the primary.
''We were expecting Feb. 8, but a week's difference doesn't tactically or strategically alter our plans ... We're still 4 1/2 months out,'' he said.
Over at Vice President Gore's Manchester headquarters, a spokesman, Douglas Hattaway, said the campaign's plans are being moved up a week.
''It gives us tighter deadlines for reaching our goals, particularly in terms of voter contact, going door-to-door and calling people on the phone,'' he said.
