New Hampshire officials will be there too, so expect them to announce the New Hampshire primary will be moved up to at least Tuesday, January 15 if not earlier.
Marc Ambinder is claiming that "Some New Hampshire sources are hearing that Gardner intends to hold the primary on either Monday, Jan. 7 or Tuesday, Jan. 8. But Gardner keeps his own council, so no one really knows."
http://marcambinder.theatlantic.com/archives/2007/08/news_south_carolina_gop_to_hol.php
In any case, just to remind people, if either IA or NH moves their contest any earlier than the DNC-mandated dates for each, then their contests will not count towards the awarding of delegates for anyone who campaigns there (as in the case with FL). (Of course, IA and NH don't have many delegates anyway. Those contests are only important because of the momentum that they give the winners. But this would provide a great excuse for any candidates who don't want to compete in those states to skip it.)
Also remember that the Michigan Dems have vowed that, if NH moves up its primary to a date earlier than the DNC-mandated date, then they'll hold their own caucus on the same day, even if that means moving it into 2007. Though again, if they do that, then it won't actually count for the awarding of delegates for any candidate who campaigns there.
The earliest primary/caucus is so important and the convention itself has become so unimportant that loss of delegates is meaningless. So the victory is far more important than the delegates the victor gets.
