RNC co-chair laments a de-facto national primary date

The new co-chair of the National Republican Committee, Mike Duncan, said on C-SPAN over the weekend that he believed the movement of as many as 20 states to hold their presidential primaries on the same day could hurt less known and less funded candidates. He then went on to joke that voters in New Hampshire should prepare themselves for seeing television ads during the Christmas shopping season.

He meant the phrase as a joke, but such a comment implies that it would be a first. Historically, New Hampshire and Iowa voters have been well accustomed to watching presidential campaign ads during Halloween and through the Christmas season.

In fact, this morning former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney began running television ads on expensive Boston broadcast stations in the hope of boosting his name recognition in Southern New Hampshire, which is part of the Boston market.