Now that the Ames Straw Poll is done candidates are focusing on New Hampshire for a time. Yesterday former Utah Governor and Ambassador Jon Huntsman interviewed with ABC News on This Week, you can watch below:
After demonstrating that he’s nothing but a liberal squish. He decided to diss Iowans, he said, "in New Hampshire, they pick presidents. I know they pick something else in Iowa."
I’m not exactly sure why he referenced Fred Thompson in 2008, and Howard Dean in 2004 comparing where they are standing since both of them lost miserably. No Iowa hasn’t always picked the GOP nominee. But in contested races (in bold when Iowa picked the nominee):
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1976: Gerald Ford (ended up being the nominee, lost to Jimmy Carter)
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1980: George H.W. Bush (edged out President Ronald Reagan by 2%)
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1988: Bob Dole
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1996: Bob Dole
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2000: George W. Bush
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2008: Mike Huckabee
The New Hampshire Primary:
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1976: Gerald Ford
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1980: Ronald Reagan
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1988: George H.W. Bush
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1996: Pat Buchanan
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2000: John McCain
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2008: John McCain
Since 1976 New Hampshire has gotten one more contest right compared to Iowa. Now if anybody picks Presidents, it would be South Carolina because they ultimately decide after Iowan and New Hampshire voters vet the candidates. They’ve picked the nominee ever since they became the third primary contest in 1980.
What Iowa does is weed out losers, as does New Hampshire. It is obvious that Governor Huntsman would rather make excuses for his inability to compete here. Since Huntsman’s Real Clear Politics polling average in New Hampshire is 3.7% compared to 1.3% in Iowa. It seems like both states are of the same mind about Governor Jon Huntsman – a losing proposition.