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Published January 08, 2008 09:55 pm - When Missouri voters went to the polls Feb. 3, 2004, they were behind only their counterparts in Iowa and New Hampshire in casting ballots for presidential hopefuls. Four other states, including Oklahoma, shared the February primary date. What a difference four years can make. Democrats, Republicans say Missouri should stay put in primary lineup By Susan Redden and Derek Spellman news@joplinglobe.com When Missouri voters went to the polls Feb. 3, 2004, they were behind only their counterparts in Iowa and New Hampshire in casting ballots for presidential hopefuls. Four other states, including Oklahoma, shared the February primary date. What a difference four years can make. Now, voters in eight states in addition to Iowa and New Hampshire will be making their presidential preferences known before Missouri voters go to the polls on Feb. 5. And whereas Missouri once was among the few states with early primaries, next month residents of 20 other states will be voting at the same time in what some call “Super-Duper Tuesday.” “I think we will get lost in the shuffle on this one,” said Tom Simpson, a professor of political science at Missouri Southern State University, of the Feb. 5 primary. But even though many states are pushing their primaries further ahead, several local Democrats and Republicans, as well as political observers, say Missouri should stay where it is. “I think we have got it fine the way it is,” said Charles Compton, a member of the Newton County Democratic Central Committee and a former member of the state Democratic committee. The state of Missouri actually has moved up its presidential primary election twice in the past 10 years, said Jack Cardetti, a spokesman for the state Democratic Party. “The problem is that everyone else did too,” he said. Until the March 1998 primary election, Missouri made its presidential choices via party caucuses. In 1998, legislation set a presidential primary for April, then a 1999 bill moved the 2000 presidential primary to the first Tuesday after the first Monday in March. Missouri and 10 other states held presidential preference primaries on March 7, 2000, then known as Super Tuesday. A 2002 election-reform bill moved Missouri’s primary to February, in an attempt to draw more presidential candidates to the state. Supporters also made the argument that Missouri should be early in the lineup because the state has a track record of voting for the winning presidential candidate. Missouri has voted for the winning candidate every year since 1904 except for 1956, when Missouri chose Democrat Adlai Stevenson over incumbent President Dwight Eisenhower. 
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