Utah Aims to Alter Primary Calendar

pushing the primaries earlier will force candidates to raise even greater amounts of money early in the campaign.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060331/ap_on_el_pr/western_primary

SALT LAKE CITY - Utah is fed up with presidential candidates who get no closer than 30,000 feet as they fly over the state. The state isn't necessarily blaming the candidates, but rather a primary calendar that puts it months behind Iowa, New Hampshire and states that typically settle the Democratic and Republican nominations long before the Utah even writes its ballot.
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Determined to change the status quo, Utah wants to hold a 2008 presidential primary the first week in February, which would put it on par with about a half dozen states that trail Iowa and New Hampshire, but still are in the thick of the contest.

Gov. Jon Huntsman, who earlier this month signed legislation to finance an earlier date, hopes it touches off a Western wave, with seven states joining Utah to create a super primary that stretches from Montana to the Mexican border.

"They can choose to compete here or they can choose to avoid or neglect us all together," Huntsman said. "If we are positioned early enough, it does have consequences in terms of the message sent to the region and indeed the rest of the country."