PROVIDENCE — Rhode Island’s 2008 presidential primary is scheduled for March 4.

For now.

The secretary of state’s office released an official schedule for next year’s presidential primary yesterday, outlining a series of deadlines for candidates, voters and the delegates who will attend each party’s national convention next year.

But when asked about the timing of the primary yesterday, the heads of the General Assembly and the governor left open the possibility that the presidential primary still could be moved up by about a month — a move that would put Rhode Island in concert with other states hoping to reap the political and economic benefits of earlier elections, which begin in January elsewhere across the country.

It was largely thought that the issue was dead in Rhode Island.

The state Senate passed a bill in May that would have moved the state’s primary to Feb. 5, 2008 — a date now dubbed “Super-Duper Tuesday” across the Internet, because as many as 18 states will hold primary elections that day, according to the nonpartisan organization Project Vote Smart.

The Senate bill was referred to the House Judiciary Committee, where it was never considered and left for dead when the Assembly recessed in June.

But now, Assembly leaders are considering a special one-day session to override vetoes this fall, because Governor Carcieri vetoed a number of high-profile Democrat and union-backed bills, including a bill to ban forced overtime for nurses and other health-care professionals at hospitals.

And House Speaker William J. Murphy said through a spokesman yesterday that he would consider resurrecting the issue during the special session.

“If they do have a special session, he will look at it…and he will talk to President Montalbano about it,” according to spokesman Larry Berman.

Senate President Joseph A. Montalbano also acknowledged the possibility of changing the state’s primary election date this fall.

“We’re talking about that. I would support doing that,” he said. “I think because of the way the rest of the country has gone, once you get beyond that I think it’s pretty much a mail-in-the-results situation. So I think it would be good for Rhode Island if we participate early.”

Asked yesterday if he would sign a bill to move Rhode Island’s primary up to Feb. 5, Governor Carcieri said: “I’m OK with it. To me, it’s not a big deal one way or the other. ”

“To say that it’s going to cause a lot more candidates to come here, I really don’t think that’s the case,” Carcieri said. “On the other hand, so many people are front-ending now and moving it up, that if you are still lagging behind, it can be seen as a little irrelevant. So if they want to do that, I’m OK with it. I don’t have a strong feeling.”

Rhode Island can expect little attention from the national candidates with a March 4 primary. In part, this is due to the state’s small population and delegate numbers, but it is also a function of the calendar.

Other small states receive many visits of presidential candidates and see feverish campaign activity — but only if they are early in the primary season. New Hampshire, which has about the same population as Rhode Island, has already received hundreds of visits by Republican and Democratic presidential hopefuls because the Granite State traditionally holds the leadoff primary, in January.

But the primary calendar across the nation is largely up in the air, according to Project Vote Smart, as states continue to jockey for position with the first of the primaries about four months away.

New Hampshire had set its primary for Jan. 22, but that may change given that Michigan moved its primary to Jan. 15, making it the first in the nation this cycle. Iowa’s caucus is scheduled for Jan. 14, while South Carolina’s Republican primary is scheduled for Jan. 19, followed by the Democratic primary Jan. 29.

Meanwhile, the secretary of state’s official 2008 presidential primary calendar and guidebook can be accessed online at www.sec.state.ri.us

With reports from Journal staff writers Katherine Gregg and M. Charles Bakst

speoples@projo.com