Candidates asked to sign caucus pledges

The Democratic parties of Nevada, Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina joined together Friday to defend their prestigious positions on the presidential nominating calendar, asking candidates to pledge not to campaign or compete in states that hold their presidential primaries or caucuses in violation of party rules.

Democrats Chris Dodd, Bill Richardson and Joe Biden quickly signed the pledge circulated by the four states approved last year by the Democratic National Committee to hold early nominating contests.

Campaign aides to Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., who leads the Democratic field in polls, said they were reviewing the pledge letter and had not decided whether to sign it.

The Democratic parties of Florida and Michigan have decided to ignore the DNC's calendar. Michigan Democrats have indicated they will hold a primary four days before Nevada's Jan. 19 caucus, which is currently second only to Iowa's first-in-the-nation caucuses on Jan. 15.

Florida Democrats plan on holding a primary Jan. 29, the day of South Carolina's primary.

An early slot in the nominating calendar gives states and their issues a bigger voice with presidential candidates eager to build momentum and raise their profile with victories in the first caucuses and primaries.

Nevada was chosen second by the DNC partly because its large minority population and location in the West would inject new issues into the presidential campaign and better reflect the nation as a whole than the largely white populations of Iowa and New Hampshire.

"Nevada is also one of the fastest-growing states with organized labor, with 15 percent of workers represented by unions," said Kirsten Searer, communications director the Nevada Democratic Party.

"The DNC saw Nevada's unique characteristics as helping a candidate prepare for the general election."

Jill Derby, chairwoman of the Nevada Democratic Party, wasn't pleased by the actions of the renegade state parties, worrying their actions could slow the momentum necessary for Democrats to take the White House.

"We need to bring order, predictability and common sense to the presidential nominating calendar and focus on electing a president who will deal with the ongoing war in Iraq, health care, and renewable energy, instead of focusing on selecting dates to hold our nominating contests."

In addition to signing the pledge, Richardson, the governor of New Mexico, also released a blistering statement: "This process is completely out of control and only an agreement by the candidates can restore sanity. I hope no candidate tries to manipulate this situation for his or her own purposes. The DNC rules were established for a purpose -- to allow retail campaigning in a few early states and choose those states based on geographic and demographic diversity. ... "

Dodd, a U.S. senator from Connecticut, said the four states chosen by the DNC "offer a cross section of America and allow for voters to probe the experience and vision of candidates in a meaningful way."

DNC leaders have said that unless Florida Democrats change their plans they will not be allowed to have any delegates seated at next year's Democratic National Convention.

Despite the threat of similar sanctions, Michigan's governor is poised to sign legislation that would move its contest to Jan. 15.

Searer, who said chaos could result if candidates aren't sure where to spend their time and money, said the Nevada Democratic Party has already brought 25 staffers aboard expressly for the early caucus.

"There are a tremendous amount of resources involved," she said, adding that the state party must raise $2 million for the caucuses.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.