Pesidential Primaries The serious academic study of the presidential p

Moreover, it is clear that some primaries are more important than others, and have been for at least the past several decades. In the New Hampshire primary, for instance, a great deal of time, energy, and money is spent that is not relative to the state's size or political clout. Since the New Hampshire primary is the first on the list, it holds the predominant position. This is not simply a matter of chronology, though, since the competitiveness of the race coupled with its media image results in a vocal contest between hopeful nominees.2

This paper will deal with a selected number of New Hampshire primaries in the attempt to establish and track three important assumptions about the presidential primary itself. First, the paper will deal with the issue of horse

1 John G. Geer, Nominating Presidents, (Westport: Greenwood Press, 1989), xi.

race versus issue in the primary and track the years 1952, 1960, 1968, 1976, and 1988 using the two major newsmagazines, Time and Newsweek. Second, the emphasis on the leading candidate will be exa

. . .
our in issue.10 The primary focus of Newsweek was with the battle in the Democratic Party between the "upstart" Senator John F. Kennedy, and his rivals  Senators Lyndon Johnson and Hubert Humphrey. The Republican side focused on then VicePresident Richard Nixon, but some coverage was also given to Adlai Stevenson. As well, Newsweek offered a four page related article on the race for the firstlady, which had some coverage on the candidates themselves.11 ____________________ 10 Newsweek, (1 February 1960): 13; (15 February 1960): 26; (22 February 1960): 26; and (29 February 1960): 223. 11 Newsweek, (22 February 1960): 2831. The coverage was predominately split between Nixon and the Democratic contenders. In the eighty total column inches, nineteen (23.7 percent) was given to Kennedy and twentyfive (31.3 percent) to Nixon. Of course, some of the coverage that Nixon received was not included in these computations, since he received a substantial amount of press in his duties as VicePresident.12 In 1968, the media devoted a much larger space to the preliminary coverage of the New Hampshire primary. In fact, in January and February of that year, a total of one hundred thirtythree column inches were given in Time mag
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Approximate Pages = 10 (250 words per page)