Posted 3:28 PM by Robert

How long will it be before the Democrats decide that the real problem was in the primary schedule, convention date and rules, and other minor procedural matters - as they have after every disaster since 1968 - and again start spending way too much time and energy running down those dead ends?

Democratic presidential candidates will face a revised calendar of primaries and caucuses in 2008, including new contests between the traditional opening states of Iowa and New Hampshire, based on new recommendations that will be considered by a Democratic National Committee panel tomorrow.... A staff draft of the final report ... will be forwarded to DNC Chairman Howard Dean... It appeared to be a compromise between proposals pushed by Southern and Western states for two to four contests between Iowa and New Hampshire and a proposal from protesting New Hampshire Democrats for additional contests immediately after the Granite State's primary. The draft contains four principal recommendations ... but the most significant calls for the addition of one or two caucuses during the eight-day gap between the Iowa and New Hampshire events and one or two primaries in the period after the New Hampshire primary and the date that formally opens the nominating process to other states. ... The draft also calls on the national committee to select states for these early contests based on criteria that would guarantee greater diversity at the front of the nominating process. Finally, the draft urges the national party to consider new incentives, including bonus delegates to the national convention, to discourage states from pushing their events up to early February.