If you're the type who doesn't think about politics until the last minute, you might not remember Gov. Rod Blagojevich's recent announcement that Illinois' primary election will move from March 18 to Feb. 5 next year.

Illinois has joined 15 other states that have so far committed to a Feb. 5 primary, creating what's become known as Super Duper Tuesday.

It may still seem like a long time from now, but considering 2008 candidates for local and state elections start circulating petitions Aug. 7, the window of opportunity for potential challengers to whip up campaigns against incumbents is smaller.

Petitions usually don't go out until October. This year, however, local candidates will have to begin filing papers with county clerks Oct. 29. That puts the height of the primary campaign season right in the middle of the December holiday season.

For Jackson County Clerk Larry Reinhardt, moving up the primary isn't the worst thing that could happen to his office. It won't cost any more, but it does present a unique set of challenges.

"It'll create some inconveniences for our offices, one being that absentee voting starts the week after Christmas," Reinhardt said.

Then there is the issue of election judge availability on Feb. 5.

"A lot of our election judges are snowbirds and will be out of the state in February, when they are usually back in March," Reinhardt said.

Local and state candidates on the campaign trail may fare slightly worse, particularly if they have to do politicking.

Barb Brown, Illinois Democratic Party committeewoman and Randolph County Circuit Clerk, said her party incumbents are largely set, but any party chairman without an idea of who will run this next election could be feeling the pinch.

"This has to be difficult with a party chairman trying to find people with the slate moved up," Brown said.

Brad Cole, Carbondale's mayor and Republican Party 12th Congressional District Committeeman, succinctly described his thoughts on the earlier primary.

"It's an inconvenience," he said.

Blagojevich's decision to bump up the primary coincides with the year U.S. Sen. Barack Obama, D-Illinois, is one of the frontrunners for president in the Democratic Party. It's no secret fellow party members wanted to aid Obama, but Cole said Illinois Democrats have managed to aid every one of their incumbents by shortening the primary race timeline.

"It's hard to beat incumbents because they write the rules, and that's what the Democrats have done," Cole said.

There is an upside to an earlier primary in terms of voter turnout. Reinhardt said he expects near-record numbers of voters at the polls Feb. 5.

"The main reason will be that with Illinois and Missouri both holding a primary Feb. 5, the advertising is going to be tremendous," Reinhardt said.

Mike Lawrence, who is the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute director and a former Gov. Jim Edgar staffer, expects more Illinois visits from major candidates, particularly around the time they are courting voters in Iowa for the caucuses there.

"Frankly, the major impact may be to increase the revenues of television stations in Illinois," Lawrence said. "With the exception of the Quad Cities, where you have the Iowa caucuses, candidates vying for presidential nominations have not spent all that much money in Illinois."

Broadcasters may see very generous advertising revenues by the winter, Lawrence said, adding he hopes stations put the extra dollars into additional news coverage of the candidates and their platforms.

"They should be substantially making more money, and they ought to give back by providing better campaign coverage than we've seen over the last couple of decades," Lawrence said.

All 18 presidential candidates on the primary ticket may converge on Illinois soon, but Lawrence said it's likely Obama will carry his home state by a comfortable lead.

"He can carry Illinois, but if he doesn't carry it by a large enough margin it could be somewhat of a setback," Lawrence said. "He not only will he have to carry it, but he has to carry it well enough the media won't say he didn't do as well as he should have in his own state."

Calls placed to Obama's Chicago campaign office went unreturned this week.

caleb.hale@thesouthern.com

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