The fraud of the New Hampshire primary

Reported at Mediaite:

Former Utah Governor Jon Huntsman, who has put all his weight behind a solid showing in the New Hampshire primary, appeared on The Early Show Thursday morning and fired a shot right between the eyes of Iowans and the candidates vying to win next week’s Iowa caucus. “They pick corn in Iowa, they actually pick Presidents here in New Hampshire.”

Is Huntsman correct? Let’s take a look at the record.

• In 1992, the New Hampshire Democratic primary was won by U.S. Senator Paul Tsongas of Massachusetts. He did not win the nomination or, of course, the presidency. The Republican primary was won by President George Bush the elder, who won the GOP nomination, but.went on to lose the presidency.

• In 1996, the New Hampshire Republican primary was won by Patrick Buchanan. He did not win the nomination, or, of course, the presidency. President Clinton won the Democratic primary and was re-elected.

• In 2000, the New Hampshire Republican primary was won by Sen. John McCain, who beat George Bush the younger by 17 points. McCain did not win the nomination, let alone the presidency. The Democratic primary was won by Vice President Gore, who went on to lose the general election.

• In 2004, President George Bush the younger won the New Hampshire primary and was re-elected. Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts won the Granite State primary and was nominated but lost to Bush in the general election.

• In 2008, Hillary Clinton won the New Hampshire primary but did not win the nomination or the presidency. John McCain won the GOP New Hampshire primary, was nominated, and was soundly defeated by Barack Obama in the general election.

So, in the last five elections, only two times did the winner in New Hampshire win the nomination of his party and win the presidency—in two elections in which an incumbent president was running for re-election (Clinton in ‘96, Bush the younger in ‘04). In the three other elections between 1992 and 2008, a candidate who LOST New Hampshire primary WON the presidency (Clinton in ‘92, Bush the younger in ‘00, Obama in ‘08).

In four other cases, the winner of the New Hampshire primary did not even win the nomination of his party (Tsongas in ‘92, Buchanan in ‘96, McCain in ‘00, and Hillary Clinton in ‘08).

The New Hampshire primary has long since ceased being the bellwether it once was. The importance that it is still given and the first-in-the-nation status that it is still afforded, as though it were a sacred touchstone of American politics, has become a ridiculous and harmful joke. This is especially the case considering the fact that despite the past disasters brought on by the open primary on the Republican side which allows liberal Democrats to vote in the Republican primary, making the primary a complete fraud and violation of the very idea of self-government, the Republican party still keeps the primary open (and Republicans have been equally unethical, as with Rush Limbaugh’s “Operation Chaos” in 2008 in which he urged Republicans to vote in the Democratic primary). In fact, Huntsman probably likes New Hampshire because he knows that many Dems will cross over and vote for him.

In the endless number of candidate appearances, “townhall” events, and media interviews we’ve had over the last six months, have any of the GOP candidates been asked even once why voting in the New Hampshire primary (as well as in several other key primaries) is still open to registered Democrats? Have any of the candidates themselves brought up the issue? Not that I’m aware of. This is an index of how dead the Republican Party is. For all their loud noise, for their supposed passion to win, they just blunder on unthinking, leaving in place a system which allows Democrats to determine who the Republican nominee will be.

See discussion from 2008 on the urgent need to reform or throw out the primary system.

Posted by Lawrence Auster at December 29, 2011 07:48 PM | Send