2012 Democratic Presidential Primaries
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Contents |
[edit] Candidates
[edit] Michael Casmir
Michael Casmir is the current Junior Senator from Illinois, and has held that position since 2008; when he defeated John Ceasar Pizzuto. Casmir graduated from the University of Chicago and worked for several years at the Rockefeller Foundation. In 1996, Casmir was elected to Congress from Illinois 4th District.
[edit] James Dailey
James Dailey is currently the Senior Senator from the Midwest, hailing from Minnesota; he has served as Senator since 2004. Dailey served in the Air Force, where he gained the rank of General, and in the CIA's top secret Intelligence Directorate. In 2000, Dailey was elected Minnesota Secretary of State and held that position until his 2004 Senate election.
[edit] Rick Hernandez
Rick Hernandez is currently the Governor of the Sunbelt, hailing from Texas; he has served as Governor since 2008; when he defeated businessman Pete Fiorelli. He graduated from the University of Texas (San Antonio) and from the University of Kansas. Hernandez had served as a City Councilor and Mayor of San Antonio, Texas, prior to his election as Governor.
[edit] Robert Hudson
Robert Hudson is currently the Governor fot the Northeast. Hudson resides in New Hampshire, but was born in Maine. Hudson is a US Army Veteran and Tax Lawyer. Hudson worked in the White House until 2000 when he was employed by the Al Gore campaign, in 2004 Hudson managed the John Kerry campaign in New Hampshire. Hudson was elected as a United States Representative from New Hampshire in 2006, and elected Governor of the Northeast in 2008 (re-elected in 2010).
[edit] Jeremy Koo
Jeremy Koo is the current Governor of the Westcoast. Koo has a history as a college athlete turned scholar prior to entering civic politics in 2002. Koo was elected US Representative for California's 13th District in 2006 and was elected Governor of the West Coast in 2008 (re-elected in 2010).
[edit] Jeffery Landon
[edit] Eric Smith
[edit] Lilliam Vanleer
[edit] Elizabeth Wellbourne
[edit] The Race
The 2012 Democratic Primaries were among the most closely-matched in recent history; the only contest truly comparable would be the Republicans in 1976.
The early frontrunners were Michael Casmir and Rick Hernandez. Casmir, however, ran into trouble in the debates (where Gov. Koo of the West Coast performed extremely well), and was soon faced by several strong challengers. Hernandez also ran into trouble when it became known that he had failed to address the impending shutdown of Las Vegas due to legal complications from the formation of the Sunbelt Superregion.
With Casmir underperforming to some extent (his win in Iowa was by far less than initially anticipated, as he fell to under a quarter of the vote), and Hernandez in trouble, several surprises emerged in Iowa: Jeremy Koo placed third very narrowly to Hernandez, and Eric Smith managed to clear the delegate threshhold with a surprise fifth place finish, while Robert Hudson came in fourth.
While Casmir struggled and Hernandez faltered, Robert Hudson won his home state of New Hampshire by a significant, yet not overwhelming, margin. The big surprise was Eric Smith coming in second place, effectively ending Sen. Vanleer's campaign by pushing her into third. Though Casmir managed to come back and win Nevada, his win was less convincing than it could have been (he won by less than 4%) and it left him in a dead heat with Smith. An effective reversal of the results in South Carolina left Smith and Casmir in a dead heat going into Mega Tuesday.
Mega Tuesday was similarly inconclusive; Smith upset Casmir in New York, but by a margin that was so small that the state's delegation split evenly. Casmir, in the meantime, won several states that he badly needed (Arizona most notably) and didn't get swamped in New York, allowing him to fight back.
The ensuing national campaign was closely-matched; Smith won most of the states in the South (rather unsurprisingly), as well as a number of other contests, but Casmir held on and managed to win Pennsylvania, winning the contest.
