Does New Hampshire Always Back Its Neighbors? Remember President Ted Kennedy?

[Ken Burch]

http://www.thenation.com/article/does-new-hampshire-always-back-its-neighbors-ask-president-ted-kennedy/

New Hampshire Democrats have frequently dashed the hopes of candidates from neighboring states. In 1972, Maine Senator Edmund Muskie planned to launch his national campaign—as the party’s most recent vice-presidential nominee and a front-runner in the eyes of many analysts—with a big win in New Hampshire. He didn’t get it. After some stumbles of his own, and some dirty tricks by President Richard Nixon’s henchmen, Muskie’s margin narrowed. South Dakota Senator George McGovern closed that gap sufficiently so that, while Muskie lead, McGovern won bragging rights. Muskie never recovered, eventually suspending his campaign as McGovern parlayed his stronger-than-expected New Hampshire showing into more primary wins and the nomination.

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In 1980, Massachusetts Senator Edward Kennedy’s liberal primary challenge to President Jimmy Carter suffered a severe setback when New Hampshire Democratic voters chose Carter—a Georgian with low poll numbers—over a Democratic Party favorite from just across their state’s southern border.

In 2004, two New Englanders competed in New Hampshire: Massachusetts Senator John Kerry and Vermont Governor Howard Dean. After losing the Iowa caucuses, Dean hoped to renew his prospects in New Hampshire, but the Vermont connection was only good for 26 percent of the vote. Kerry, who benefited from the fact that Boston media reaches a lot more New Hampshire voters than Vermont media, easily prevailed.

Indeed, it can be argued that New Hampshire’s reputation as a state that backs New Englanders is based on recent patterns of voters who have moved to New Hampshire from Massachusetts, who continue to read The Boston Globe and the Boston Herald (papers that regularly endorse in New Hampshire primaries), watch Boston television stations and often (though not always) back candidates from Massachusetts.

Candidates from other New England states, like Vermont’s Dean and Connecticut’s Joe Lieberman, have not enjoyed so consistent an advantage.

So if Bernie wins New Hampshire solidly, it will have little to do at all with where he lives. It will be on the merits of his ideas and himself.

[cali]

1. I was just thinking about this.

Also, the Clintons have deep ties there. And Hillary won it on 2008.

[merrily]

2. Centrists seem to love making up self-serving, convenient untruths about about past elections.

One of the difficulties in combatting lies is that telling a lie is easy and quick and can take only a sentence, even less. Also, the lie can be told in a memorable sound bite.

Refuting memes that have been repeated for decades, though, is not easy or quick but some have tried, anyway. That includes my amateur efforts on DU.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1251&pid=1153117

[lob1]

3. Thom Hartmann lived in both states and he says they

not only don't think alike, they make jokes about each other. So the meme that it's a neighboring state so they're the same is totally bullcrap.

California is next to Arizona, and we're nothing alike.

[cali]

4. So different. I live in Vermont's Northeast Kingdom

It borders NH. NH and Vermont even feel completely different

[lob1]

5. I wonder why almost every single reporter that says "New Hampshire",

automatically says it's next to Vermont so Bernie has the advantage? I guess to explain away why Hillary's going to lose it.

[MADem]

6. Plenty of people in MASSACHUSETTS thought Ted was out of line primarying Carter.

No one is being "primaried" this year. It's an open election. Carter was the INCUMBENT, the sitting President-- and Ted was shitting on him.

Ted was raging on the coke back then, his marriage was falling apart, and no one was going to let him forget Chappaquiddick, even though it happened over a decade earlier.

He was a train wreck. Paul Kirk had left his staff. His constitutent services fell off, and he was in Don't Give A Shit territory, reckless, undisciplined, and making bad decisions.

It's a good thing he got his act together, and finished out his career as the Lion of the Senate, but for a time there, he was a hot mess and everyone knew it.

Romney, Dukakis, Tsongas, they all got the "neighborly" treatment. Muskie WON too--he didn't have a blowout because he was swiftboated, in essence, but he still won.

Kerry edged out Dean most assuredly due to media buys, plus, Dean wasn't well known even though he was the VT governor. Also, he was born in NY! Red Sox nation doesn't like NY!

I liked Dean, though--still do.

That's some rather lame reporting from The Nation. The article really doesn't make the point it purports to at all. Basically, all of the people they mention who are from New England and who aren't trying to primary a sitting POTUS WON NH.

Now they're "quibbling" about the size of the victory?

Surely they know better.

[catnhatnh]

7. We call them

"The People's Republic of Vermont". They call us the upside down state (Look at a map).