Editorial: Don’t fret over California

Saturday, March 17, 2007 | 6:53 a.m.

There had been concerns that if California and other large states move up the dates of the presidential primaries, it would make Nevada's caucus on Jan. 19 less important.

But now that California has finally settled on Feb. 5 as its primary date, and with other states expected to soon follow its lead, the conventional wisdom is starting to emerge that this early bunching of states actually will boost interest in Nevada's caucus.

We agree with this assessment.

Candidates will want the momentum that a good showing in Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina will bring before what has been termed as mega-Tuesday, when California and a host of other states will hold primaries.

We expect that in the coming year we will continue to see Democratic presidential hopefuls inundating the state, particularly with millions of California voters next door.

In Nevada the Republicans moved their presidential caucus to Feb. 7, but two days behind mega-Tuesday will be too little, too late.

Republican presidential candidates will come here as they have in the past, primarily for fundraisers. But the reality is that Nevada Republicans won't receive the attention Democrats will.