McAuliffe: Early Primaries Help Hillary, Obama

Democrats and Republicans need to re-examine the presidential primary calendar after next year's election because the system puts too much emphasis on money, the former chairman of the Democratic National Committee said Monday.

Terry McAuliffe, now chairman for Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's presidential campaign, told an audience at Brown University that the rush by states to move their primaries to early next year favors front-runners like Clinton and Sen. Barack Obama.

"I think the early primaries will help people who have the ability to raise money - help Hillary, help Barack," he said. "I'm not sure Bill Clinton could have made it through 1992 with the system we have now."

McAuliffe said Democrats and Republicans should come together to form a commission to come up with a new approach to the primary system. He said after the speech that he did not favor any particular system, but he would like a commission to study the options, such as a regional primary system.

About a dozen states, including California, New York and New Jersey, have already moved their primaries or caucuses to Feb. 5, just 22 days after the leadoff Iowa caucuses. About a dozen others are considering a similar move.

"It's going to go very fast," McAuliffe said.