At the parish pump

New Hampshire has yet to set a date for its Primary. It prefers to give short notice, especially now that the other states are breathing down its neck. Florida, for instance, thinks it should have greater prestige in the national Primary business and it has moved is Primary date from March to seven days after the NH Primary or February 5 - whichever comes first. California is champing at the bit to raise its electoral profile and it is aiming for February 5. So is New York. Nevada, meanwhile, has announced a Democrats-only contest on January 19.
What is going on?
Already the businesses of Primaries and Caucuses are confusing - but why can't the various states leave the tradition alone?
Well, whatever the policies involved in the political race, whatever the issues with the incumbent Administration, it is all about dollars. This is America, after all. Presidents might administer, but dollars rule.

The candidates have been raising vast amounts of money. Quite a bit of that is spent in New Hampshire, Iowa and South Carolina, who are the traditional early states wherein the candidates spend a lot of time coming face-to-face with the people. That is what is special about New Hampshire. It's about scale, the fact that it is a parish pump state. As such, it has always been considered something of a barometer to the nation's political mood.
In massive, broadly-spread population areas such as California, this sort of grass roots interaction is not feasible. The pollies are spread thin. So, they have to depend on advertising. And this is what those states want. They want election advertising revenue.