Why Wisconsin?

Sunday's Pioneer Press has an AP article on the history of the Wisconsin primary.

Remember, first, that what we're seeing now was all part of Neel's plan, formulated right after New Hampshire, to overturn Kerry. Ignore February 3, do well on the 7th, let the Southerners get knocked out on the 10th, then win Wisconsin and turn things around heading into Super Tuesday.

Here, from the Pioneer Press story, is his thinking:

The biggest Wisconsin primary, historians agree, came in 1960. The Democratic race pitted Kennedy against Minnesota Sen. Hubert Humphrey in the second primary in the country.

Few gave Kennedy a chance, said Richard Haney, a University of Wisconsin-Whitewater history professor and author of official histories of the Wisconsin Democratic and Republican parties.

"Kennedy was the outsider, the youngster," Haney said. "The question in Wisconsin was could Kennedy win in the Midwest, in Humphrey's country?"

But Kennedy outspent Humphrey, flying in for multiple appearances. Humphrey bounced around the state in a bus, said UW-Milwaukee political science professor John Bibby.

Kennedy won Wisconsin by more than 100,000 votes. The victory powered him to the nomination and persuaded more states to start primaries...

If Wisconsinites ever want their state to be an important place on the Presidential campaign calendar (and who doesn't) the only way to do it is to vote for Howard Dean. Dean has placed his bets on Wisconsin as Kennedy did, aiming to stop the Kerry freight train as Kennedy stopped Humphrey.

No one gave Kennedy a chance, either.

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