New Orleans ? Party leaders from several states told the Democratic National Committee on Thursday that their states should get a bigger voice in picking the 2008 presidential nominee because they have more diverse populations than the two largely white, homogenous states that now dominate the nomination battle: Iowa and New Hampshire.

From the South, top Democrats argued that presidential candidates would be stronger if they first had to find a way to appeal to both the region’s many African-Americans and to culturally conservative whites.

And from the West and Southwest, state leaders argued that the party must find better ways to talk to their growing Hispanic and union populations.

The Democratic National Committee will decide later this year which state or states will get a coveted voting slot.