Not that it means much of anything, but I found these interesting numbers online for total 'popular vote' for the candidates in primaries (nationwide):
[only those polling >1% listed]
Some of the total turnout numbers are interesting. Bush (2000) has the highest primary vote total, followed by Clinton (1992) and Carter (1980)--although that says more about how long the contest lasted in many cases than anything else.
2004-D:
John Kerry: 61.0% (9.9 m)
John Edwards: 19.4%
Howard Dean: 5.6%
Dennis Kucinich: 3.8%
Wesley Clark: 3.4%
Al Sharpton: 2.3%
Joe Lieberman: 1.7%
2004-R:
George W. Bush: 98.0% (7.8 m)
2000-D:
Al Gore: 75.8% (10.6 m)
Bill Bradley: 20.0%
Lyndon LaRouche: 2.3%
2000-R:
George W. Bush: 62.0% (12.0 m)
John McCain: 31.2%
Alan Keyes: 5.1%
1996-D:
Bill Clinton: 89.0% (9.7 m)
Lyndon LaRouche: 5.5%
1996-R:
Bob Dole: 58.8% (9.0 m)
Pat Buchanan: 20.8%
Steve Forbes: 11.4%
Lamar Alexander: 3.2%
Alan Keyes: 3.0%
1992-D:
Bill Clinton: 52.0% (10.4 m)
Jerry Brown: 20.2%
Paul Tsongas: 18.1%
Bob Kerrey: 1.6%
Tom Harkin: 1.4%
1992-R:
George H.W. Bush: 72.8% (9.2 m)
Pat Buchanan: 23.0%
1988-D:
Michael Dukakis: 42.5% (9.9 m)
Jesse Jackson: 29.2%
Al Gore: 13.7%
Dick Gephardt: 6.0%
Paul Simon: 4.7%
Gary Hart: 1.8%
1988-R:
George H.W. Bush: 67.9% (8.3 m)
Bob Dole: 19.2%
Pat Robertson: 9.0%
Jack Kemp: 2.7%
1984-D:
Walter Mondale: 38.3% (7.0 m)
Gary Hart: 35.9%
Jesse Jackson: 18.1%
John Glenn: 3.4%
George McGovern: 1.9%
1984-R:
Ronald Reagan: 98.8% (6.4 m)
1980-D:
Jimmy Carter: 51.1% (10.0 m)
Ted Kennedy: 37.6%
Jerry Brown: 2.9%
1980-R:
Ronald Reagan: 59.8% (7.7 m)
George H.W. Bush: 23.8%
John Anderson: 12.2%
Howard Baker: 1.4%
1976-D:
Jimmy Carter: 39.3% (6.2 m)
Jerry Brown: 15.4%
George Wallace: 12.3%
Mo Udall: 10.2%
Scoop Jackson: 7.1%
Frank Church: 5.2%
Robert Byrd: 2.1%
Sargent Shriver: 1.9%
Ellen McCormack: 1.5%
Fred Harris: 1.5%
1976-R:
Gerald Ford: 53.3% (5.5 m)
Ronald Reagan: 45.9%
1972-D:
Hubert Humphrey: 25.8% (4.12 m) [interesting]
George McGovern: 25.3% (4.05 m)
George Wallace: 23.5%
Ed Muskie: 11.5%
Eugene McCarthy: 3.5%
Scoop Jackson: 3.2%
Shirley Chisholm: 2.7%
Terry Sanford: 2.1%
John Lindsay: 1.2% (the last Mayor of NY to make a serious run)
1972-R:
Richard Nixon: 86.8% (5.4 m)
John Ashbrook: 5.0%
Pete McCloskey: 2.1%
There's even data from before 1972, but considering the lack of primaries before then, it's a bit off:
1968-D: McCarthy followed by RFK, with LBJ in 4th and HHH in 8th
1968-R: Reagan places first (presumably because CA had a primary), followed by Nixon, with Rockefeller in 4th and Gene McCarthy (!) in 5th with 1%
1964-D: Pat Brown beats Johnson, again because of CA, presumably
1964-R: Goldwater followed by Rocky, with Lodge in 4th and Nixon in 8th (3%)
1960-D: JFK followed by Pat Brown, Humphrey in 4th, Johnson with the least of any candidates who got votes (behind Richard Nixon)
1960-R: Nixon with over 80% of the vote (and nearly 5m votes, not bad)
1956-D: Stevenson followed by Kefauver
1956-R: Ike (no serious opposition)
1952-D: Kefauver (65%), followed by Pat Brown, then Atty Gen. of CA with 10%. Stevenson in 7th, behind Humphrey in 6th. Truman in 9th, behind Ike in 8th.
1952-R: Taft, followed by Ike, followed by Warren, followed by Stassen. Write-ins for MacArthur put him in 7th, with .6%
1948-D: Truman with 65%, followed by Julian (OH favorite son?)
1948-R: Warren, Stassen, Taft, Dewey. No candidate over 1m.
1944-D: FDR plus the occasional favorite son
1944-R: MacArthur (!) in first, followed by Warren, Bricker, Dewey. No candidate over 1m.
1940-D: FDR (>70%) followed by Garner (<10%)
1940-R: Dewey with just under 50% of the vote (and over 1m)
1936-D: FDR, no serious opposition
1936-R: William Borah (R-ID), followed by Landon, Knox, and Warren.
1932-D: FDR with just under 50%, Smith in 3rd
1932-R: Joseph France (R-MD) in first, Hoover in 2nd.
& a few more back to 1912.
http://www.ourcampaigns.com/ContainerHistory.html?ContainerID=2382&ShowPrimaries=Y
