Donald Trump abandons New Hampshire
but it was never in play
The news that Donald Trump was no longer trying to win New Hampshire was leaked by a now ex-campaign staff aide.1
It’s hardly surprising. Despite the sexy closeness of the 2016 race in the Granite State in 2016; the 2004, 2012, and 2020 presidential race results tell a more remote and stand-offish reality.
John Kerry won it in 2004 with 50.24%, Barack Obama got 51.98% in 2012, and Joe Biden won it in 2020 with 52.71%.
For the GOP, the 2012 numbers must have been particulary galling. Mitt Romney had been a Massachusetts governor and gave off the long lost air of Yankee Republicanism. His loss in 2012 was the knife twist in the fantasy that the GOP could sell itself to the neo-libertarians of New England after they sold out to their evangelical wing in the 1990s.
Worse still for the Granite State is that its political important has gone from kingmaker to inconsequential serf in the last 75 years. From 1952 to 1984, New Hampshire annointed presidential wanna-bes, and candidates and their campaign staffs endured cold New England winters every four years for the chance.
Beginning in 1984, New Hampshire was being bookended by the Iowa Caucuses and the South Carolina primary. By the time George W. Bush ran in 2000, New Hampshire’s importance was been diminished down to a mere 4 Electoral College votes.
In fact, had Ralph Nader not sucked away 4.9% of the vote, Al Gore would have won and Florida would have been an annoying side political story. Since 2000, the GOP has won exactly 6 Electoral votes in New England.
New England is very very Blue nowadays and it’s looking even bluer in 2024.2
https://newrepublic.com/post/185584/donald-trump-new-hampshire-campaign-got-worse
https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/trump-states-once-competitive/