The LuLac Edition #5, 100, April 23rd, 2024

 

MAYBE I’M AMAZED

Our “Maybe I’m Amazed” logo.

Pennsylvania Presidential Primary Edition

MAYBE I’M AMAZED…..that the first Presidential primary in the Keystone state was put in place in 1968. Prior to that delegates were picked by party leaders. The Constitutional convention mandated that the primary election for the Presidency would take place in that election year and the other elections statewide and municipal would take place in May.

MAYBE I’M AMAZED…..that the first two winners of the Pennsylvania primary were Senator Eugene McCarthy who was running unopposed because Senator Robert Kennedy entered the race on March 16^th, incumbent President Lyndon Johnson had withdrew on March 31^st and Vice President Hubert Humphrey had not yet declared. On the Republican side Governor Raymond Shafer ran as a “Favorite Son” candidate. At the quadrennial American national political party conventions, a state delegation sometimes nominates a presidential candidate from the state, or less often from the state's region, who is not a viable candidate in the view of other delegations, and votes for this candidate in the initial ballot. The technique allows state leaders to negotiate with leading candidates in exchange for the delegation's support in subsequent ballots. In 1968 there were 12 Favorite Son candidates consisting of Governors and Senators. One of those candidates was Maryland Governor Spiro Agnew who was later picked by Richard Nixon as his Vice Presidential candidate.

MAYBE I’M AMAZED…..that Hubert Humphrey’s first primary election win EVER was in Pennsylvania in 1972. Humphrey had run in 1960 against John Kennedy and lost the Wisconsin and West Virginia primaries. In 1968 he entered the race on April 30^th past the primary filing dates in all states.

MAYBE I’M AMAZED…..that in 1976 much of the speculation for the 1976 nomination surrounded Senator Hubert Humphrey of Minnesota, formerly Vice President of the United States and the party's nominee in 1968. Humphrey had won the largest number of votes in the 1972 primaries but lost in a bitter fight with McGovern. Though Humphrey ultimately declined to seek the nomination again, many early votes went to uncommitted delegates who supporters hoped would commit to Humphrey by the time of the convention. The 1976 campaign was the first presidential campaign in which the primary system was dominant.[citation needed] However, most of the Democratic candidates failed to realize the significance of the increased number of primaries, or the importance of creating momentum by winning the early contests. Jimmy Carter, who was virtually unknown at the national level, leveraged his obscurity to run as an "outsider" to Washington. Carter's plan was to run in all of the primaries and caucuses, beginning with the Iowa caucuses, and build up momentum by winning "somewhere" each time primary elections were held. There was ab “ABC movement afoot (anybody but Carter in that year but the Georgia Governor won 64 delegates with 36% of the vote followed by Congressman Morris Udall, Senator Henry Jackson, and Governor Milton Shapp.

MAYBE I’M AMAZED…….that in the 2008 primary election even though Senator Barack Obama had huge crowds of more than 35,000 in Philadelphia, the fact was it didn’t translate into votes. Hillary Clinton who drew less people won the state with 54% of the vote to Obama’s 45%.

MAYBE I’M AMAZED…….that this was the first primary in the state that employed the usage of Super Delegates. These were hand picked by party  operatives and usually were higher echelon elected officials. Clinton got , 16 superdelegates and 5 had announced support for Senator Obama. The state’s top two officials Governor Ed Rendell and Senator Bob Casey each had a favorite with Rendell backing Hillary and Casey on board for Barack.

MAYBE I’M AMAZED…that the 1980 Democratic primary was a nail biter. Senator Ted Kennedy won by a few percentage points over incumbent President Carter. Kennedy had 45.68 to Carter’s 45.40% of the vote. Kennedy had 94 delegates, Carter 91. Ultimately Carter prevailed in the nomination fight  but it was close.

MAYBE I’M AMAZED….that in 1980 on the GOP side Georger H.W. Bush beat Ronald Reagan by 8 percentage points. Reagan in fact lost more primaries to Bush including here in Pennsylvania and Massachusetts but swept the southern states to secure the nomination early. Reagan ultimately picked Bush after GOP leaders wanted a ticket of Reagan and former President Gerald Ford as Vice President. Reagan was having none of that and picked the former CIA Director and Ambassador.

MAYBE I’M AMAZED…..that in the 1984 Presidential campaign (one I was involved with) Walter Mondale won overwhelmingly against Senator Gary Hart of Colorado and Civil Rights activist Jesse Jackson. Mondale garnered 81 ballots, Jackson had 16, Hart 14 and John Glenn who had dropped out of the race just 1. Mondale appeared on Wilkes-Barre’s Public Square the Friday before the lection. As a Presidential candidate he made history by picking the first woman to be his running mate, New York Congresswoman Geraldine Ferraro and losing every state but his own (Minnesota and thew District of Columbia) to Reagan in the fall. Mondale had said that the most consequential thing he had ever done in his political career was to be his party’s standard bearer for the top office in the land.