GOFFSTOWN, NH – New Hampshire Secretary of State David Scanlan was joined by his predecessor Bill Gardner as well as former New Hampshire Governors John Lynch and John H. Sununu on Jan. 17 for a roundtable discussion on the New Hampshire Presidential Primary.
The roundtable echoed a similar event held 24 years earlier as the quartet discussed the essence of the nation’s first presidential primary.
Much of the event looked at the primary’s history, including stories such as the time when Gary Hart (allegedly) threw an axe straight at a bullseye in the North Country or when Sununu told a local reporter how impressed he was with Rosalind Carter or the time when George H.W. Bush traveled through the snow to meet thousands of voters at an event in Wolfeboro despite a snow storm, stopping to ice fish with Ted Williams on the way.
Ultimately, each of the stories played around the theme that New Hampshire is unique and it is important in vetting presidential candidates, as they said that Granite Staters can quickly spot candidates with a façade.
“It’s like nowhere else and I don’t think people understand how special it is,” said Sununu.
“We’ve had the primary for 100 years and we’ll have it for another 100 years regardless of what the DNC and RNC say,” said Lynch. People here take the Primary very seriously and I think New Hampshire not only does the country a service, but does the candidates a service. I’ve had many candidates tell me that New Hampshire has made them better candidates and some presidents that said that New Hampshire has made them better presidents.”
Gardner, well known as one of the primary’s key defenders, echoed the sentiments of Lynch and Sununu in the belief that what happens in New Hampshire could not be duplicated given the tradition of public involvement in government, the lack of distinct political figures that can sway voters directly, and the low barrier to access for candidates, creating an atmosphere where anyone with a dream and the willingness to work can pursue the dream of running for president.
“It’s a process for the little guy and about the little guy,” said Gardner. “In terms of participation, there’s no doubt about it. While other states say that if they were first they could match it, I doubt that.”
While the retail aspect of the primary has been challenged in recent years with the rise of rallies from candidates such as Barack Obama and Donald Trump, both Lynch and Sununu said that most candidates still focus on the “town hall-style” question and answer-focused event popularized by John McCain.
Sununu also said that in the Democratic Primary, the success of Joe Biden’s write-in campaign will be compared with the write-in campaign of Lyndon Baines Johnson in 1968, where a 49.7% result was enough for him to drop out of the race that year.
Sununu and Lynch also urged everyone watching the Republican Primary not to take anything for granted, stating that pollsters cannot fully capture all of New Hampshire’s electorate in a sample.
