Washington, D.C -The trend toward earlier presidential primaries for the 2008 election is continuing. The state of Florida has become the latest state to move up its presidential primary. The primary, now scheduled for January 29th, will be followed by what is being dubbed as Super Duper Tuesday, in which approximately twenty states, including California, New Jersey, New York, and Texas, have moved their primaries to February 5th.

The increase in early primaries will significantly affect the nomination outcome for both the Republican and Democratic parties. Super Duper Tuesday is poised to become the national primary day. The campaign could start on January 14th with the Iowa caucus and end just over three weeks later with a majority of delegates for both parties chosen by February 5th.

In the past, battles for presidential nominations often began in winter and extended through June. Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina, the states holding the earliest caucuses and primaries, served as the principal places where candidates put themselves in personal contact with voters. The earlier scheduling of primaries could potentially dilute the traditional role these states played in providing momentum for the successful candidates and doom for candidates who did not place well. "Though Iowa and New Hampshire are important, we can put less of our chips there," said one Giuliani campaign aide to the Wall Street Journal.

With a large number of states now poised to hold caucuses or primaries on February 5th, the importance of money is bigger than ever. Only the candidates with the largest war chests will be able to actively compete in the early primary states. The early primaries will favor campaigns that can afford to pay for advertising in expensive media markets and can pay for large organizations to get supporters to the polls. This could limit the ability of a dark horse candidate to gather momentum from an early win in Iowa or New Hampshire, as Jimmy Carter famously did in 1976.

The increased emphasis on raising money early on in the electoral process and the new prominence of states like California, New York, and Texas in the primaries gives Iranian Americans an opportunity to increase their importance in the 2008 election. In both absolute numbers and percentage, California has the largest population of Iranian Americans of any state in the nation, while New York has the second highest and Texas has the third highest. Iranian Americans in these and other states have an excellent record of success in raising funds and organizing events for an assortment of candidates at the state and national level. Through fundraising, voter registration drives, and increased individual participation in the electoral process, Iranian Americans have an excellent chance to increase their political prominence by helping to determine the next presidential nominees.

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Paid for by the Iranian American Political Action Committee (IAPAC). This communication is not authorized by any candidate or candidate’s committee. Contributions are not tax-deductible as charitable deductions for federal tax purposes.

IAPAC is a registered bipartisan political action committee that contributes to candidates for public office who are attuned to the domestic needs of the Iranian American community. IAPAC focuses exclusively on domestic policy issues such as civil rights and civil liberties, and encourages Iranian Americans to actively participate in the electoral process, to vote and run for political office.