Democratic Candidates And The Nebraska Presidential Primary/Caucus
I’m recalling here what Democratic presidential candidates — if any — appeared in Nebraska for previous presidential caucuses or primaries. My memory is good but not perfect. If there is somebody I didn’t mention, please feel free to chime in.
1976. Frank Church and Jerry Brown. Church won the primary.
1980. Edward M. Kennedy. Carter won the primary.
1984. Gary Hart. The Colorado Senator won the primary.
1988. Michael Dukakis and Jesse Jackson. Dukakis won the primary.
1992. Bill Clinton made a short stop at the Omaha airport. Clinton won the primary.
1996. None. Clinton didn’t have a primary opponent.
2000. None. By now the primary process was much more front loaded than in the past. Gore had already dispatched Bill Bradley.
2004. None. Kerry wrapped up the nomination in March.
2008. First Democratic caucus. We had appearances from Barack Obama, Michelle Obama and Chelsea Clinton. Obama won the caucus.
2012. None. Obama didn’t have a primary opponent.
2016. Hillary Clinton, Bill Clinton, Chelsea Clinton and Bernie Sanders. Sanders won the caucus.
The problem with a May primary is that the nomination may already be decided since the process is front loaded. Most of the key primaries and caucuses are between January and March. Hopefully, the NDP can team up with the Nebraska GOP to move the primary up to March.