The 2008 presidential election will be a historic one for many reasons. Reasons for this include our first semi-national primary, the fact that the first time in American history a woman, Hillary Clinton,
and an African-American, Barack Obama, have an opportunity to be president, and the fact that there will be a record turnout assisted by a huge turnout by women, African-Americans, and young people. Certainly the nation has never had so many states having a primary on the same
day.
The presidential election of 2008 has already captured the attention of the entire world. “Newsweek” writes: “The world watches with interest in the American presidential race, and European communities are weighing in on the most watchful race in decades.”
Vermont’s presidential primary will be in play on Town Meeting Day, March 4. Nine presidential candidates will be on the ballot, including Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, John McCain, and Mike Huckabee. On my Town Meeting Survey in 2007, Barack Obama had more support than Hillary Clinton, and John McCain had more support than Mitt Romney.
The Democratic Party will have 18 delegates to their national convention in Denver. The Republicans will have 17 delegates for their convention in St. Paul. Most observers believe that no Democratic candidate will have enough delegates to win their nomination by March 4th. It appears that John McCain may win the Republican nomination by March 4th.
On Town Meeting Day, March 7, 1972, Vermont achieved a status that was unique in the nation. Randolph became the first municipality in the Untied States to hold a presidential preference primary. Senator Edmund Muskie of Maine captured the Democratic nomination, and President
Richard Nixon won the Republican nomination
Vermont’s presidential primary was established by the legislature in 1915, at a time when the Progressive movement nationally was urging that states revise their election laws to permit greater
popular participation in the political process. In 1916 and 1920, primaries were held in the late spring, but the turnout was very low. Because of the low turnout, the primary laws were repealed by the
general assembly following the 1920 election.
The modern presidential preference primary was established by statute in 1976. The bill was introduced in 1975, but failed to pass that year. It was first defeated in the House, but then was
reconsidered the next day, partly because a statement by Senator George Aiken was read, indicating that a Vermont primary might be a good idea. The sponsors of the presidential issued a statement which said, in part: “The most important decision we as a nation make is the selection of
our president. There is considerable evidence that early primaries, such as New Hampshire, do make a difference. Vermont has a different voice than that of New Hampshire, and should be heard.”
One of the arguments against the presidential primary was the cost of printing the ballots. To respond to that concern, the secretary of state, Richard Thomas, arranged to have all the ballots placed in the lobby of the State House. From there, Vermont legislators delivered them to the town clerks. This created a lot of attention in the national media. Reporters came to Vermont, and it became a national story representing Vermont’s frugality.
The bill was finally passed early in January, 1976, and was signed by Governor Tom Salmon. The sponsors of the primary were concerned about the late passage of the bill. Because presidential
candidates in that year might not have known about the primary law, the sponsors then made phone calls to the presidential candidates encouraging them to come. Five presidential candidates participated in the primary.
In 1996, the Vermont presidential primary became binding with the result that delegates would be allocated to the two major parties. Prior to 1996, we had a presidential preference primary, sometimes called a beauty contest, where no delegates were apportioned.
The chart below contains the Vermont presidential primary results from 1976 to 2004.
VERMONT PRESIDENTIAL PRIMARY STATISTICS, 1976-2004
Democrat Republican Voter Turnout
1976 Jimmy Carter Gerald Ford 67,122
1980 Jimmy Carter Ronald Reagan 81,612
1984 Gary Hart Ronald Reagan 107,625
1988 Michael Dukakis George Bush 98,635
1992 No Primary No Primary No Primary
1996 Bill Clinton Bob Dole 88,941
2000 Al Gore John McCain 132,057
2004 John Kerry George Bush 112,327
Senator Bill Doyle represents Washington County and was a sponsor of presidential primary bill.