Just when you thought the first presidential caucuses were going to take place Jan. 3 in Iowa, Monterey County Democrats have decided to move the calendar forward nearly a month.

Democrats in Monterey will host on that day what they are billing as "the first presidential primary in the nation" -- a faux caucus that will feature a straw poll that they hope will attract some media attention. They didn't quite get the speaker of the House to headline their event, but they do promise that her daughter, Christine Pelosi, will be a special guest.

In a press release announcing the event ("News organizations will have an opportunity to cover the excitement, drama and spectacle of a presidential primary in Salinas," it begins), the organizers say they expect it to be "the largest ever gathering of Democrats in Central California."

Wonder whether they're counting that Oprah fund-raiser for Barack Obama that took in Montecito in September...