One of the silly little rituals of American politics is the quadrennial fight over which state will host the first presidential primary. New Hampshire, of course, clings fervently to its first-primary tradition, and always threatens to make life miserable for any candidate, or party, that doesn't honor it. Thus it was amusing to note that the executive committee of the South Carolina Democratic party voted last week to hold its primary next February 26. This, it turns out, not only angers New Hampshire, it's against national Democratic party rules, which require other states to wait until March. And while the Democratic National Committee has no real power to dictate when South Carolina holds its primary, the DNC is now threatening to reduce by 25 percent the number of delegates South Carolina will be given at the Democratic convention. This, and other threatened punishments, don't seem to have fazed the chairman of South Carolina's Democratic party, Dick Harpootlian: "They're going to put us in bad hotels and give us bad seating at the convention," he said. "If that's the best these sissy boys can do, I think we'll be having a primary on February 26."