Let’s do it again in 2016

Thursday, January 19, 2012

It was a good presidential primary. Not as interesting as 2008 when both parties had contests, but still good.

So, let’s do it again in 2016.

That, of course, is the plan although, as has been the case in recent decades, the New Hampshire Presidential Primary, first-in-the-nation, you know, will be under fire again by those people who perceive our populace to be, in the ironic words of Andy Seale, chairman of the Milford Republican Committee, “old, cranky white people.”

Well, many of us are, of course, and New Hampshire certainly isn’t reflective of the inner-city populace, not even in our inner “cities” which are really just big towns, comparatively, but the fact is, we matter because we get involved.

That, really, is the key to determining whether a primary is worth holding in a particular state at a particular time: involvement.

In the main, New Hampshire residents participate, usually to a greater degree, in terms of percentage of eligible voters, than do people in some other states. This year, our percentages weren’t brilliant but we think that is because the Democrats didn’t have a real primary so many of them, probably most, stayed home.

Republicans, however, had a very interesting contest that, as Mark Vincent, chairman of the Amherst Republican Committee pointed out, played out along lines that had been predicted by polls, although Jon Huntsman snuck up on some folks.

And as has always been the case with our primary, candidates came out and met people face-to-face, which doesn’t always happen in some bigger states where a massive media buy will reach more potential voters. Try doing town hall-style meetings in California. Yikes.

The New Hampshire primary could be even better in 2016. If President Obama wins re-election, then both parties will have serious primaries. If the Republicans (i.e., Mitt Romney) take the White House in November, then there will be an interesting Democratic primary (Hillary?) because Romney will certainly seek a second term.

We’ll just have to wait and see.

That said, our voting isn’t over. March looms and then, as you know, we have important local elections and voting that involves town and school budgets, so you want to start preparing for that. Read The Cabinet, go to meetings, get involved.

You might not get to shake hands with Ron Paul, but you will get to decide how your money is spent.