**Please note:
This particular entry is psycho. The type has a mind of its own, I have played with it forEVER, I can't make it perfect. I apologize. But I am only making it worse with each attempt to make it better.**
Because my candidate did not win the New Hampshire Primary, and because I am a terrible, sore loser, I decided I needed to figure this whole thing out. Clearly the damn media isn't going to give me any facts or truths -- they're still trying to decide if Hillary won because she @$(*&$#(@@#$ cried. Give me a break. So I decided to do a little research and come to my own conclusions based on (gasp!) facts.
Following are the Democratic and Republican N.H. Primary statistics from 1960 to present. Those in bold (and their color!) became president, below each candidate are their running mates.
Democrat
Senator John F. Kennedy
(against John Fisher)
Republican
Vice President Richard Nixon
(no serious opposition)
1964:
Democrat
President Lyndon Johnson
(no serious opposition)
Republican
Ambassador Henry Cabot Lodge
(Senator Barry Goldwater)
1968:
Democrat
President Lyndon Johnson
(Eugene McCarthy)
Republican
Former Vice President Richard Nixon
(Governor George Romney)
1972:
Democrat
Senator Edmund Muskie
(George McGovern)
(John Ashbrook)
Republican
President Richard Nixon
(Paul McCloskey)
(Nixon was president for two terms but was impeached in 1976. Gerald Ford was then sworn in as President of the U.S.)
1976:
Democrat
Governor Jimmy Carter
(Congressman Mo Udall)
(Senator Birch Bayh)
(Senator Fred Harris)
(Ambassador R. Sargent Shriver)
Republican
President Gerald R. Ford
(Governor Ronald Reagan)
1980:
Democrat
President Jimmy Carter
(Senator Edward Kennedy)
(Governor Jerry Brown)
Republican
Governor Ronald Reagan
(Ambassador George H.W. Bush)
(Senator Howard Baker)
(Congressman John B. Anderson)
(Congressman Phil Crane)
1984:
Democrat
Senator Gary Hart
(Vice President Walter Mondale)
(Senator John Glenn)
(Reverend Jesse L. Jackson)
(Senator Al Gore)
Republican
President Ronald Reagan
(no serious opposition)
1988:
Democrat
Governor Michael Dukakis
(Congressman Richard Gephardt)
(Senator Paul Simon)
(Reverend Jesse L. Jackson)
(Senator Al Gore)
Republican
Vice President George H.W. Bush
(Senator Bob Dole)
(Governor Lamar Alexander)
(Steve Forbes)
(Ambassador Alan Keyes)
(Gary L. Bauer)
1992:
Democrat
Senator Paul Tsongas
(Governor Bill Clinton)
(Senator Bob Kerrey)
(Senator Tom Harkin)
(Governor Jerry Brown)
(Mayor Larry Agran)
Republican
President George H.W. Bush
(no serious opposition)
(Bill Clinton did NOT win the N.H. Primary and yet he became President of the U.S. for two terms, giving him the term "The Comeback Kid..." which they are now trying to give to Hillary. I am thinking I'd rather have Obama be the Comeback Kid!!!)
1996:
Democrat
President Bill Clinton
(no serious opposition)
Republican
Pat Buchanan
(Senator Bob Dole)
(Governor A. Lamar Alexander)
(Steve Forbes, businessman)
(Ambassador Alan Keyes)
(Gary L. Bauer)
2000:
Democrat
Vice President Al Gore
(Senator Bill Bradley)
Republican
Senator John McCain
(Governor George W. Bush)
(Steve Forbes, businessman)
(Ambassador Alan Keyes)
(Gary L. Bauer)
(Now here we have another situation where those of us in New Hampshire did not vote for the candidate who eventually became president. (Though I suppose that is debatable, as Al Gore "technically" won the election, but we were just beginning to get a taste of G.W.'s disregard for rules, constitutions, U.N. agreements, etc. so we shouldn't be surprised that actually losing the election didn't stop him from becoming president!)
2004:
Democrat
Senator John Kerrey
(Governor Howard Dean)
(General Wesley Clark)
(Senator John Edwards)
(Senator Joseph Lieberman)
(Congressman Dennis Kucinich)
(Reverend Al Sharpton)
Republican
President George W. Bush
(no serious opposition)
2008:
Democrat
Hillary Clinton
(Senator Borack Obama)
(Former Senator John Edwards)
(Governor Bill Richardson)
(Representative Dennis Kucinich)
Republican
Senator John McCain
(Governor Mitt Romney)
(Governor Mike Huckabee)
(Mayor Rudy Giuliani)
(Congressman Ron Paul)
And there we have it! The N.H. Primary has earned a reputation as a launching pad for long-shot candidates, but I can't really see any definitive patterns here (except for one!)
In 1960 John Kennedy ran against V.P. Richard Nixon. I assume that JFK was considered to be the long shot, but I bet the charisma of JFK just blew Tricky Dicky right out of the water! And both Nixon and Kennedy won in N.H. So nothing mind blowing there.
In 1964 Lyndon Johnson was elected -- nothing long-shotty about this. He was the successor to JFK, there were three candidates more or less in the race from both parties.
In 1968 Nixon came back into the picture, beating out Democratic NH Primary winner Lyndon Johnson. Nothing unusual here.
In the 1972 election Nixon won re-election. Long shot? I think not.
In 1976 Governor Jimmy Carter beat Gerald Ford. Well, this is a no-brainer. Ford was attached to the recently-impeached Nixon. Republicans were in the doghouse and while the peanut farmer might have seemed like a long shot, if you look at the list of candidates, they all were. I'm still not buying this long-shot label!
In 1980 Ronald Reagan beat Jimmy Carter. Was Reagan a long shot because he was an actor? More like the Republicans needed back into the White House and if you didn't like Carter your choices were Edward Kennedy (Chappaquiddick Chappaquiddick) and Jerry Brown. Nuff said.
In 1984 the Old Gipper was re-elected while Gary Hart was out doing Funny Business. Bringing to us the first of political morons who couldn't keep their dicks in their pants when there were cameras around. (This was also my first presidential election, and I thought Gary Hart was cute. Shows you how smart I am!)
And then 1988 brought about the beginning of the Bush era. Long shot? Unlikely. Money shot more like.
Then, in 1992 Gov. Bill Clinton did NOT win the N.H. Primary. But he became President of the U.S. Which should have been the end of the Primary's ridiculous media draw. But alas, they can not let go of a bone they've been gnawing for so long. And while in 1996 Clinton won both the primary election and the presidential election, things took another turn in 2000 when Gov. George W. Bush lost to John McCain (and Al Gore, but I am trying not to gnaw on the same bone myself!) And yet ... as we all woefully know ... became president.
In 2004 Bush won again and that brings us to present day, when Hillary beat Obama. And here it is folks, the bestest discovery of all. The last two presidents DID NOT WIN the New Hampshire Primary. WOO HOOO WOOOOOO HOOOOOO.
There is no real impact for these candidates in terms of delegates from New Hampshire, so the real impact is the media coverage and the "momentum" which is in itself a media phenomenon. But remember, that momentum is built up in a diner with a bunch of puppet-waving sign holders behind the glass ... it's only an illusion.
Hey, I gotta go get me a corn dog down at the diner.
Mustard anyone?
9 comments:
GO OBAMA!!!!
Hey...how do you get the pictures so big on your blog? I can only put them in that weeny size?
Well, I don't know. I don't know how I do half the stuff I do -- I just play around! I think there was a choice of size. I am also working on making the entire page bigger (or wider) but it's not easy. It requires some HTML formatting, which I can handle, I just can't figure out the numbers to use. I tried to just wing it, but I kept crashing! That generally means I screwed up!
There was a section in the Concord Monitor today that people said who they voted for and why. I truly could NOT believe most of the reasons that people voted the way they did. Idiots! All I kept thinking of while I read it was Lisa's comment about most people needing to keep it a secret. Now I know why - most people are idiots. Several were up the ally of "Hart is cute". Hee hee
BTW - on the "vote". Can we vote on the one item we could do without???? You know...who needs a toothbrush if you don't have the toothpaste to go along with it.
Well, what happens if the iPod doesn't have ear phones? Geesh. I put the M & M's in there for you!!! Some people are never happy!
My space for writing is bigger, but only because of the particular template I chose. I think it all has to do with the template, but I also know I have been somewhere before that allowed me to change the photo size...I just can't find it!! SO frustrating for sure!!
Based on this past conversation you both made my voting very easy...no earphones...ipod is useless, no toothpaste...might as well use your finger...so books it was for me because the m and m's would be gone in a heartbeat!
I know what you mean Cheryl about the idiotic reasons people vote...just like the stupid blonde airline attendent (or whatever they are called these days!)
Sooo...Lees, how long did it take you to come up with all of these stats? You should really consider going into education...stats are all the rage!
Although these were interesting stats, if I may say so myself...or between you and me as it may be!!
Good point about the M & M's running out. At least books can be read many times. Backwards even - in the stranded event! Hmmm..I didn't consider that the Ipod wouldn't have headphones. They even come with them from the store, don't they?
I spent a week in Newfoundland reading the same book over and over and over. I know it can be done!! The iPod, (forget about the headphones) would run out of battery power unless of course you could plug it into a tree. The M & M's -- well, short lived pleasure. The toothbrush, what does it matter if you're alone on a deserted island?
It's really a no brainer!!!
As for how long it took me to post that damn stat stuff -- you don't want to know. Originally I had them across the page, but it kept messing up. Oh, the whole thing was a nightmare. Once you start formatting, the world gets murky.
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