The New Primary Season

''It's a whole new world for them,'' said Terry McAuliffe, chairman of the Democratic National Committee. ''Iowa and New Hampshire, while they play a critical role, are not totally representative of our party or the country. What you have now is Iowa and New Hampshire, and then you go right into seven other states.''

Even the presumed front-runners in New Hampshire and Iowa must take the contests that follow seriously -- as the Dean campaign is, despite his competitiveness in both of the early states. Dean's strategy is to take his influx of new campaign donations and spend it in the Feb. 3 states; he has staff members working for him in every state with a contest through Feb. 17, according to his campaign manager, Joe Trippi.

For the first time, Democrats will have an early Super Tuesday in 2004, with at least seven states, and perhaps more, holding contests on Feb. 3, just one week after the New Hampshire primary. With that in mind, Dean is planning to announce state campaign directors in eight new states -- from New Mexico to Maine -- in early August. An adviser to Kerry said he will have professional campaign offices in more than 20 states by Labor Day. Senator Bob Graham of Florida, who entered the race five months ago, has named state directors in Oklahoma and South Carolina.

''Democrats need to recognize that the primary map has fundamentally changed,'' Lieberman spokesman Jano Cabrera said.