And the race is on...

We have a year until the primaries start, and almost 21 months to the 2008 general election, but the candidate debates....errr..."forums" are starting already.

Nevada seems to be getting the jump on everybody in this regard (thank to Desert Beacon for the heads-up on this):

The Nevada State Democratic Party has the announcement of a forum hosted by AFSCME in Carson City on February 21. The forum will be held at the Carson City Community Center; most tickets are reserved by the union; if I can find a webcast of the event, I'll link to it here. C-SPAN should have it, too.

Other NV events, from Google Calendar:

What: AFSCME Candidate Forum in Nevada (D)

When: Wed Feb 21, 2007

Where: Carson City, Nevada

Description: First, the SC Dems thought they had the first-in-the-campaign debate on 4/26.

Then CNN and the NH state parties announced back-to-back debates on Friday for 4/4 and 4/5. Now, NV Dems have chimed in by not just announcing a "first" candidate debate or forum, but they've released an entire 5-event schedule.

-- 2/21: AFSCME will be hosting a candidate forum (as opposed to a debate) in Carson City. Is this early to expect both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama? The rest of the Dem field won't miss it, right? This probably won't be televised nationally beyond C-SPAN though if both Clinton and Obama attend, some cable net may change its mind.

-- 3/24: SEIU/Center for American Progress health care forum at UNLV.

-- mid-8/07: apparently piggy-backing off the end of the IA State Fair, NV Dems will sanction their first official "debate" in Reno.

-- 11/2: a one-year out debate sanctioned AND sponsored by the state party.

-- 1/15/08: the NV Dems are sanctioning a debate for the day after the IA caucuses.

Fairly shrewd move as it likely guarantees that all the Dem candidates will fly directly from Des Moines to Vegas, rather than Des Moines.

A Nevada Appeal (MSM newspaper in Carson City) article on this is here.

And don't forget that ASU is already trying to be one of the hosts of a presidential general election debate next fall.


With all of the scurrying between the states to have the "earliest" primaries, and now forums/debates, it seems that by the 2016 presidential election cycle at the latest, the primaries will be held held on January 21, 2013.

As in the day after the winner of the 2012 election is inaugurated.

Still, for those of us Dems who haven't decided which candidate to support during the primary, these early forums, even if they're not held in AZ, will be helpful.

Later!