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August 21, 2006
Thank You, Howard Dean
Heh.
CHICAGO (AP) - Democrats shook up tradition on Saturday by vaulting Nevada and South Carolina into the first wave of 2008 presidential contests along with Iowa and New Hampshire - a move intended to add racial and geographic diversity to the early voting.It's about time someone challenged New Hampshire's arrogance. I can't be the only person tired of listening to voters from that state assume they have ultimate power over who runs for president.The decision by the Democratic National Committee leaves Iowa as the nation's first presidential caucus and New Hampshire as the first primary, but wedges Nevada's caucuses before New Hampshire and South Carolina's primary soon afterward.
"The DNC did not give New Hampshire its primary, and it is not taking it away," New Hampshire Gov. John Lynch said.Oh, please shut up. Your state isn't special, your voters aren't any smarter than the rest of us and frankly, given the poor track record of your state in recent elections, they're not particularly representative of the nation as a whole. Their sense of entitlement seems to have dulled their political instincts.Secretary of State William Gardner, also a Democrat, emphasized again Saturday that it will be his office, not Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean, who picks the state's primary date.
"That's going to be based on state law, and it will be a date that honors the tradition," Gardner said after the DNC action. "It appears that he's in the driver's seat taking the Democratic National Committee on a collision course with the New Hampshire tradition."
The only bright spot to New Hampshire's stubborn push to be first is that the earlier they hold their primary, the more irrelevant they will be to the final outcome.
And yes, there is something behind my disdain for New Hampshire. In 2000, I visited the state to help the Bush campaign. From the moment I started knocking on doors and walking the streets, I knew Bush was going to lose that primary. The Republican voters of that state were solidly pro-McCain. However, loyalty to one's candidate should never excuse the rudeness with which I was treated, both in person and on the phone.
I have talked politics with angry Bush-hating liberals who were more pleasant than some of those voters. If they lose 'first in the nation' status, the only 'tradition' broken will be the misguided belief that some voters deserve to be treated differently than others.
Posted by slublog at August 21, 2006 12:00 AM
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