Everything about Super Tuesday totally explained
In the
United States,
Super Tuesday, in general, refers to the Tuesday in February or March of a
presidential election year when the greatest number of states hold
primary elections to select
delegates to
national conventions at which each
party's presidential candidates are officially nominated. More delegates can be won on Super Tuesday than on any other single day of the primary calendar, and, accordingly, candidates seeking the presidency traditionally must do well on this day to secure their party's nomination. In
2008, Super Tuesday was
February 5; 24 states held primaries or
caucuses on this date, with 52% of all pledged
Democratic Party delegates and 41% of the total
Republican Party delegates at stake.
History
Origins and significance
The phrase "Super Tuesday" has been used to refer to presidential primary elections since at least 1984 as dates when a large number of states held presidential primaries. In fact, the 1984 primary season had three "Super Tuesdays," ending with "Super Tuesday III", when
Walter Mondale finally secured the Democratic nomination.
The phrase "Super Tuesday" was next used to describe the primary elections that took place on
March 8,
1988, in the
Southern states of
Texas,
Florida,
Tennessee,
Louisiana,
Oklahoma,
Mississippi,
Kentucky,
Alabama, and
Georgia leading up to the
1988 election in November.
Southern Democrats came up with the idea of a regional primary in an effort to nominate a moderate candidate who would more closely represent their interests. (Their plan ultimately didn't succeed as
Jesse Jackson,
Al Gore, and
Michael Dukakis split the Super Tuesday primaries, and Dukakis was subsequently nominated.) Since then, the particular states holding primaries on Super Tuesday have varied from year to year. Subsequent "Super Tuesdays" have taken place on
March 10,
1992;
March 12,
1996;
March 7,
2000; and
March 2,
2004. In 2000, 16 states held primaries on Super Tuesday, the largest presidential primary
election day in U.S. history.
Since Super Tuesday primaries are held in a large number of states from geographically and socially diverse regions of the country, Super Tuesday typically represents a Presidential candidate's first test of national electability. Convincing wins in Super Tuesday primaries have usually propelled candidates to their party's nomination. In
1992, after losing earlier primaries, Democrat
Bill Clinton emerged as a candidate "back from the dead" when he convincingly won a number of Southern primaries on Super Tuesday. Clinton ultimately went on to win the Democratic nomination and the presidency. In
1996,
Republican Bob Dole's Super Tuesday sweep sealed his bid for the Republican nomination. In
2000, approximately 81% of Democratic delegates and 18% of Republican delegates needed to secure nomination were up for grabs on Super Tuesday. That year, Democrat
Al Gore and Republican
George W. Bush cemented their nomination bids with Super Tuesday victories, and both went on to win their parties' nominations.
Increased participation
To increase importance of their votes, many states have moved up their primaries to
February 5,
2008. This new, earlier cohort of primaries and caucuses has thus come to be referred to as "Super Tuesday." (By way of denoting its political magnitude, some pundits have variously dubbed it "Giga Tuesday," "Mega Giga Tuesday," "Tsunami Tuesday" or even "Super Duper Tuesday." "Super Tuesday" is, however, the nominal term and the one most widely used.)
2004
In 2004, several states moved their presidential contests up to
February 3 2004 in order to increase the relative importance of their election results. Ultimately five states held primaries and two held caucuses on this, a date eventually christened
Mini-Tuesday or, alternatively, Super Tuesday I by pundits, with the traditional March Super Tuesday date christened Super Tuesday II, or just simply "Super Tuesday." Arguably, the Roman numeraled names are most consistent with how Super Tuesdays were first christened in 1984, when there were in fact three Super Tuesdays.
2008
In the spring of 2007, 24 states with over half the delegates to the national conventions moved to change their primary dates to
February 5 2008, creating the largest "Super Tuesday" to date. Newswriters and political pundits have noted that this will dwarf the Super Tuesday primaries in previous cycles, creating a "Tsunami Tuesday," among other superlatives.
Democrats
Republicans
Further Information
Get more info on 'Super Tuesday'.
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