The Nation: Arizona First?

New Hampshire had to move its primary up a week, to March 7, when Florida threatened to steal its cherished position as the nation’s first primary state. Now it faces a challenge of sorts from Arizona, a non primary state. This year, following the Democratic Party reform guidelines, Arizona’s Democrats will elect their state committee men in January. The committee men in turn will choose their 25 national delegates on Feb. 12. It will be the first U.S. state convention of 1972, and the chances are that most of the delegates will be pledged to a candidate—thus giving the American electorate a pre-New Hampshire bellwether. Who will the Arizonans be backing in Miami? On present form, Ed Muskie, already endorsed by influential Representative Morris Udall of Tucson, has the edge.