SC Will Announce Primary Date

SC Will Announce Primary Date 10 AM

More caucus date action today: "South Carolina Republican officials will reveal their choice for the 2012 presidential primary date at 11 a.m. (ET) Monday." My bet is Tuesday 1/24, but Saturday 1/28 is also possible.

Frontloading HQ has another good roundup of the latest possibilities and a bunch of calendar scenarios similar to mine:

While a date for the Nevada Republican caucuses was not set (Saturday), the state party chose not to alter the newly enacted rule that links the Republican caucuses in the Silver state with the primary in New Hampshire. That would place the Nevada Republican caucuses on the Saturday following New Hampshire, a violation of New Hampshire state law.

The final calendar, then, hinges on how the showdown between New Hampshire and Nevada is resolved. History and the mechanics of primary/caucus movement are not on Nevada's side. New Hampshire will not break its own law and the legislature there is unlikely to chance it to accommodate Nevada.

And Frontloading HQ also offers words of warning:

...we should all buckle in and prepare for three weeks of "primaries in December" talk... and it is a bluff. Nothing would threaten Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina and their privileged positions at the front of the calendar more than for one or more of those states to jump into the calendar year prior to the presidential election.

Which New Hampshire knows, and that's why they let Iowa go just five days before them in 2008, to keep it in the calendar year.

Other stuff: Daily Kos number cruncher David Nir looked at nine key votes where House speaker John Boehner lost votes on his right flank:

I'm sure you're wondering who these problem children are. I've already mentioned the two worst: Justin Amash of Michigan's 3rd Congressional District and Steve King of Iowa's 5th (seeking reelection in the new 4th). They've voted against Boehner nine out of nine times, the only two to do so.

And an update on the hacking: another (non-political) blogger reports the same problem and the same culprit. If you're really interested you can read the tech support thread.