The Des Moines Register’s David Yepsen writes Iowa and New Hampshire should retain their positions as the first national primary states but “how about having Ohio or New Mexico hold the No. 3 and 4 caucuses or primaries in 2008?”

Yepsen says the Democratic Party should consider switching the order of its primaries based on which states were statistically close in the 2004 election. Yepsen says the change could help Democrats:

“Moving other battleground states to early positions in the nominating calendar and spreading out the schedule of caucuses and primaries - could enhance the ability of Democrats to win in 2008 and reduce some of the criticisms of Iowa and New Hampshire without completely eliminating their role.”