Iowa in December?

At least the weather will be better. But that’s what the WSJ is telling us:

South Carolina Republican Party Chairman Katon Dawson will join with New Hampshire Secretary of State Bill Gardner tomorrow morning to announce that both states are moving up their presidential primary dates earlier into January, according to a prominent South Carolina Republican who spoke with Dawson this week. That likely will force Iowa — always protective of its party caucuses as the first-in-the-nation nominating contests — to make good on its vow to move their date from next Jan. 14 into pre-Christmas December.

I’ve been saying this for a while. Details:

New Hampshire tentatively had planned to have its first-in-the-nation primaries on Jan. 22, eight days after Iowa’s caucuses. South Carolina Republicans had planned to hold primaries on Feb. 2. Dawson told his fellow Republican that South Carolina’s would be at least 10 days before Florida’s Jan. 29 primaries, but not on the same day as Nevada’s caucuses, which are Jan. 19, and 12 days after New Hampshire’s primary.

That suggests New Hampshire will be moving into the first week of January. Iowa would then be certain to move up from Jan. 14. To avoid getting caught in the holiday period, Iowans have said the caucuses would have to be in mid-December.