VIENNA, VIRGINIA - With Iowa's lead-off caucuses a scant 33 days away, the Democratic National Committee put finishing touches on the calendar under which it will nominate a presidential candidate. The chaos that has ruled the seemingly endless process of establishing delegate selection rules was finally laid to rest at today's DNC Rules and Bylaws Committee meeting, the last before the party's August convention.

Recent calendar shuffling required Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina to seek waivers as states jockeyed for position. The three states, which have long held early primaries, had been given permission to hold their contests before an approved February 5 window in which other states can schedule their events. The waivers, necessary because all three had changed the dates on which their contests will be held in recent months, were granted with little dissent.

Still, the meeting was not without rigor or conflict. Many throughout the party have voiced frustration that Iowa and New Hampshire, two states that have traditionally held their nominating contests at the head of the pack, continue to dominate the process so completely. "It's unconscionable that we continue to grant special treatment" to the two early states, Michigan Democratic Party chairman Mark Brewer told fellow committee members.

Brewer's home state faced the harshest sanctions of the day. Just weeks after Michigan's state legislature moved to establish a primary ahead of the February 5 window, "Michigan is coming to you today to request equal treatment," DNC member Debbie Dingell said. Early states have too much influence on the process, she argued, as Democrats hope to elect a president. "It is not a president of Iowa or New Hampshire. It is a president of all 50 states," she said.

Despite their pleas, the body stripped Michigan of its entire delegate slate. The move, along with four Democratic candidates' decisions to remove themselves from the primary ballot, makes Michigan's January 15 primary little more than a beauty contest. Michigan becomes the second state, along with Florida, to see its delegates removed for rule violations.

Ensuring that Michigan's contest is all but meaningless, the committee provided an eleven-day window between the New Hampshire primary and the Nevada caucuses, giving candidates a chance to reset messages and focus on the Silver State. Nevada Democrats are giddy at the prospect of increased influence in the process; state party Executive Director Travis Brock passed out stickers touting "the 11 Days of Caucus."

Nevada did not come by its position in the process easily, and its advance could signal a change in the way future calendars are formulated. Opening the meeting, RBC co-chairs James Roosevelt and Alexis Herman spent significant time reviewing the progress and decisions the committee has made. No matter the work put into the calendar this year, many committee members predicted an end to Iowa and New Hampshire's traditional supremacy.

Criticizing New Hampshire Secretary of State Bill Gardner's public adherence to a state law requiring him to set the primary a week ahead of other states, committee member Donna Brazile said she believed the "gentleman's agreement" between Iowa and New Hampshire was coming to a close. "I want to thank Mr. Gardner for making sure that it is history," Brazile said.

The final pre-February 5 window schedule:

January 3 - Iowa
January 5 - Wyoming (Republican caucuses only)
January 8 - New Hampshire
January 15 - Michigan (Only Republican delegates allocated)
January 19 - Nevada
January 19 - South Carolina (Republican primary only)
January 26 - South Carolina (Democratic primary only)
January 29 - Florida (Only Republican delegates allocated)
February 5 - Party-approved window opens