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Sen. McCain Decries Early Primary Trend NewsMax.com Wires FORT MYERS, Fla. -- Republican presidential candidate John McCain said Tuesday that Florida's decision to move up its 2008 primary to Jan. 29 was part of a strange national trend that gives voters little time to pick the best candidate for their party. "We are now going to choose the nominees of our parties either in late January or in early February and our conventions are in August and September. That's a little bizarre," McCain said on the first stop of his two-day Florida fundraising sweep. "In principle, this process should be drawn out a lot longer so people have a better chance to examine the candidates," McCain said, noting it also hurts candidates who do not take an early lead in primary races. "There is no way of coming back now if it's all the first week in February or even the last week in January. "But there is nothing I can do about it except play by the rules," McCain said. Florida broke the rules of both parties in May when Gov. Charlie Crist signed a bill moving the primary from March to Jan. 29, leapfrogging other states except the Iowa and Nevada caucuses and the New Hampshire primary. Florida's election is now on the same day as South Carolina's Democratic primary. Both parties penalize states for moving their primaries earlier than Feb. 5. Republicans and Democrats have threatened to cut Florida's delegates by half, reducing the state's impact at party conventions. But Crist, a Republican, has said the early primary will increase the state's influence and put Florida at the forefront of the presidential race.
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© 2007 Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Editor's note: Read more on this subject in related Hot Topics:
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