Tom Miller (D)
DES MOINES, Iowa (Legal Newsline) - Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller will participate in a Democratic Party commission to mull changes to the party's U.S. presidential nominating process.
The attorney general will sit on the 35-member Democratic National Committee's Change Commission.
Among other topics, the blue-ribbon panel will consider suggestions to improve the caucus system, the number of superdelegates and how to better time states' primaries and other nominating exercises. The panel will issue a set of recommendations by 2010.
Iowa holds its caucuses before the New Hampshire primaries, which traditionally kick off the state-by-state presidential nominating process.
Because of the Iowa caucuses, the Hawkeye State gets considerable attention from presidential hopefuls and their surrogates, diverting attention from more populous states that have their nominating exercises later in the election cycle.
"General Miller, an early supporter of President Barack Obama, will represent Iowa's interest well on this commission," Iowa Democratic Party Chairman Michael Kiernan said in a statement.
Miller was tapped for a seat on the commission by Democratic National Chairman Tim Kaine, the governor of Virginia. The commission will be led by U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn of South Carolina and U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill of Missouri.