Des Moines Register: GOP chiefs in Iowa, New Hampshire defend roles of their states
February 2, 2000
Web posted at: 1:33 p.m. EST (1833 GMT)
 DES MOINES, Iowa (Des Moines Register) - Iowa GOP Chairman Kayne Robinson traveled around New Hampshire on Tuesday, watching election returns come in from the nation's first primary and promoting Iowa's key role in the presidential nominating process.
New Hampshire GOP Chairman Steve Duprey invited Robinson to the Granite State. Both men made a round of television interviews about the states' back-to-back roles in the road to the White House.
"We kind of hyphenate Iowa and New Hampshire every time we talk about it," Robinson said in a telephone interview from Concord.
Every four years, the influential roles that Iowa and New Hampshire play in the selecting a president are questioned. Robinson said he went to New Hampshire to be an advocate for Iowa's first-in-the-nation caucuses.
"The whole deal is to keep the partnership with New Hampshire going," Robinson said. "There are a lot of opinion leaders here. There are a lot of opportunities. We're making progress."
When exit polls foreshadowed Arizona Sen. John McCain's eventual victory over Texas Gov. George W. Bush, Robinson said he was surprised. Bush won last week's Iowa caucuses, by up to 14 percent. "That would be a massive win," Robinson said of McCain.
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