And now for something completely different. Rather than my usual urging for letters and advertisers, I thought it might be fun to lighten up the welcome section and take a more personal approach.

This will surely come as a surprise to most of you, but I only edit CAW in California part of the year. The Capitol Action is written by our staff in the California State Capitol, of course, but the editing and managing of the newsletter takes place most of the year in upstate New York - where I'm in my final year at Vassar College.

Maintaining this newsletter - handling subscription/unsubscription requests, etc. - has always been a lot of fun. It's my hobby, of sorts. CAW has come a long way in the past couple years and I'm always looking for ways to improve it.

Based on our ever-increasing number of subscribers, it seems that we must be doing something right! ;-)

Would you like to continue to see this lighter type of approach in the welcome section? I'd be more than happy to start off each week with anecdotes of college life, for example. Or do you prefer the dryer, "send us input and letters" approach? Let me know. Send feedback to mailto:webmaster@capenq.com.

Thanks for reading, and have a great week.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- With the general election less than a month away, California voters are focused on the races for governor, U.S. Senate and a myriad of congressional and legislative races.

But the biggest electoral event of the year, watched closely by national political strategists, had nothing to do with November. It happened in Sacramento when Gov. Pete Wilson signed legislation moving California's 2000 presidential primary up to the first Tuesday in March. That act dramatically altered the political calculus of the next presidential election.

First, it gives California a far greater say in who the next presidential nominees are by putting the state's rich harvest of 54 electoral votes -- and 165 Republican and 422 Democratic national convention delegates -- up for grabs at the opening of the electoral season. Only New Hampshire and Iowa will hold their winnowing processes earlier, and even if a candidate gets a good media ride on those states, he or she will have to possess enough money and organization to mount a credible effort in California, a megastate with 33 million people, nearly half of them registered to vote.

Second, the governor's signature, in effect, created a political "D Day" by setting California's primary on the same day that New York, Georgia, Maryland, Colorado and a handful of New England states hold their primaries. Moreover, other states are considering scheduling their primaries on the same day.

Third, the earlier primary has the potential of galvanizing a ho-hum electorate that is accustomed to playing second-fiddle in presidential politics. Historically, the state has played a critical role in the race for the presidency only twice: in 1964, when Republican Barry Goldwater's victory here sealed the GOP nomination for him and eight years later, when George McGovern narrowly defeated Hubert Humphrey. The great unanswered question: Will the earlier primary boost voters' involvement?

For decades, California's presidential primary has been held in June, but in 1996, the Legislature approved and Wilson signed legislation that moved the primary up to March 26. It was hoped then by both Democrats and Republicans that the earlier date would give the state greater clout. But that plan fizzled when other states simply moved their own primaries to an earlier date.

But this time, the California primary has been shifted to the earliest date allowed by the national parties' rules. Only the New Hampshire primary -- which by state law is held before any other state -- and the Iowa caucuses are earlier.

Ironically, the decision to move up California's primary is the product of opposing political forces.

The Republican Wilson, humiliated during his first presidential campaign, wants to run again in 2000 and is already gearing up his exploratory effort. He hopes he can transform his support in the Golden State into national momentum. He faces one major downside, however: While state polls give him good marks for his job as governor, those surveyed emphatically say they don't want him running for president.

For Democrats, the earlier primary could give an edge to Vice President Al Gore, a well-heeled contender who hopes to succeed Bill Clinton and who could raise the kind of money required to run in media-rich California. But Gore has his own problems, including his links to the Washington fund-raising scandals and Clinton's potential impeachment inquiry stemming from the Monica Lewinsky affair.

The bottom line is that California is the prize. And in 2000, the winner of this state may well wind up on the road to the White House.

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