Western primary date to be set (FWD)

[DEMOREP1 at aol.com]

Anybody want to go to Salt Lake City and tell the politicos about single
winner reform-- i.e. NOT having ANY primary ?
------
Date:  Mon, Sep 28, 1998 11:08 AM EDT
From:  SErtelt
Subj:  CAMPEL-L: Western Primary Set (news)

Western primary date to be set
By Associated Press 
Sept. 28, 1998 

              SALT LAKE CITY - Utah Gov. Mike Leavitt expects to set a
              date for a year 2000 multistate primary at a meeting of Western
              states' officials in November. 

              Utah, Nevada, Idaho, Wyoming and Colorado are committed to
              sending representatives to the meeting here, and Arizona and
              Montana are likely to participate as well. 

              But the governor told the Deseret News editorial board that the
              primary will happen regardless of how many states ultimately
join
              up. 

              "I see four to nine states in the first (Western) primary,
perhaps
              more joining" in 2004 and 2008 as the move to regional primaries
              builds across the nation, the governor said. 

              The most likely date for the first Western primary is between
              March 6 and 10, 2000. 

              And while Leavitt, a Republican, thinks the primary could be
              "open" in nature - that is, anyone could come to vote and not
have
              to declare a party preference - Utah state GOP Chairman Rob
              Bishop says in reality people will have to pick either a
Republican
              or Democratic ballot. 

              Thus, for the first time since the failed party-registration
effort of the
              late 1960s, Utah voters will have to say publicly with which
political
              party they associate. 

              The state Republican executive committee has voted to push
              legislation in the 1999 Legislature that would set up a
presidential
              primary, Bishop said. 

              With Leavitt and GOP leaders behind it, success is all but
assured
              in the Legislature. 

              Leavitt, a former political consultant, said there are a host of
              strategic advantages to a Western regional presidential primary.

              There are more delegates to the National Republican Convention -
              where the party's presidential nominee will be selected - up for
              grabs in the central-West states than there are in California,
he said.

              And, while there could be 190 such delegates at stake in the
West,
              there are only 11 GOP delegates in New Hampshire, the
traditional
              first battleground in a presidential year. 

              "I foresee a situation where a presidential candidate could do
              poorly in New Hampshire, poorly or not very well in California,
but
              work hard in the Western primary, pick up most of the delegates
              and be a real player" in the GOP presidential race. 

              Because of smaller media markets that still reach most of their
              state's citizens, a candidate could spend less money to deliver
more
              delegates, he said. 

              "I could see the strategists for several (GOP) presidential
              campaigns" saying the road to the Republican presidential
              nomination and the White House runs through the Mountain West,
              Leavitt said.