After the March 12, 1968 New Hampshire primary political researchers did a demographic analysis of the electorate. A substantial number of the Eugene McCarthy voters cast their protest ballots for him not because they wanted peace and withdrawal from the war in Viet Nam, but because they were opposed to LBJ’s war strategy and wanted a more militant and hawkish intervention. They wanted to “win the war,” and not “end the war.” By their ironically casting their protest vote for the dovish McCarthy was the only way they could show their opposition to Johnson. McCarthy’s strong performance, however, did not … Continue reading Eugene McCarthy and the Myth of the 1968 New Hampshire Primary