S.C. Domino Falls, Paving Way for Earlier Iowa Caucus Date

It's still looking like an early January caucus date for Iowa if nothing else changes.

Today, South Carolina Republicans set their primary date for Jan. 21, ten days before the Jan. 31 date set by Florida last week -- a move that .

More on the change from our Patch friends in :

The announcement — made by state party chairman Chad Connelly at party headquarters, located at 1913 Marion St., in Columbia — will keep the state's "First in South" status.

Florida's announced last week plans to move its March primary to Jan. 31. Other states also have planned to move up their primary dates, which has thrown the entire process into turmoil.

Connelly said last week that the state party would not let "rogue" Florida usurp South Carolina's right to hold the first primary in the South.

"Last Friday, a nine-person committee brought chaos to the 2012 nomination calendar," S.C. GOP Chairman Chad Connelly said at the press conference Monday. "Today, South Carolina restores order."

Iowa political blogger John Deeth writes that Iowa's caucus date could come down to what Nevada and New Hampshire decide.

I see two scenarios:

1) South Carolina and Nevada share Saturday 1/21. SC wants "first in the south," NV wants "first in the west." That could put NH on Saturday 1/14 or Tuesday 1/10, and us in the first week of January.

2) If Nevada insists on "Saturday after New Hampshire" and its own day to itself, and New Hampshire insists on "one full week," then New Hampshire could take Saturday 1/7. NH Secretary of State Bill Gardner has said in the past he would consider a Saturday date, though he's never done it.

Ed Tibbetts of the Quad City Times writes that Jan. 5 and Jan. 9 have been discussed as potential dates for the Iowa Caucus, as Republicans attempt to avoid the New Year's Eve and Day events at the very beginning of the month.