As the hardworking staff read its umpteenth story today about GOP presidential hopefuls taking to the campaign trail in the Hawkeye State, or recall elections adding t what has been a tumultuous year in the Badger State, we remembered a piece we did last time around for Weekend All Things Considered.

We thought we’d post it as a public service. Audio here. Text here:

ANDREA SEABROOK, host:

Louisiana is officially known as the Pelican State, in case you were wondering. If you ask around, though, you’ll find a few other nicknames – the Bayou State, the Creole State, the Sugar State, even Sportsman’s Paradise. That got essayist John Carroll thinking.

Mr. JOHN CARROLL (Essayist): Presidential campaigns give us more than just drama, conflict, the agony of defeat, and finally a president. They also provide a quadrennial refresher course in, well, for starters, the word quadrennial. Quadrennial is most often associated with the proverbial road to the White House, although it could just as easily be applied to the Olympic games, leap years and Chris Matthews taking a breath.

That road to the White House runs through the primary states, of course, and it invariably provides a primer on state nicknames. For instance, reporters always dust off the nickname the Palmetto State so they don’t have to say South Carolina 17 times in a row. The moniker march starts with the Hawkeye State caucus and the Granite State primary – the untouchables of the quadrennial presidential process.

This year, another early presidential contest took place in Nevada, known as either the Silver State, or the Sagebrush State, depending on how you envision it. In the spirit of Las Vegas, 8-5 says you envision it as the Silver State.

Virginia is another state with dueling nicknames. Number one: Old Dominion; number two: Mother of Presidents. Problem is the Buckeye State, Ohio, claims to be the mother of modern presidents.

Now, maybe Heather has two mommies, but are we sure an American president is ready for that? Maybe there should be a bake-off between Ohio and Virginia for official mother status. And, yes, I do give the edge to Virginia because of its name.

Another case of double trouble on the nickname front is the designation Last Frontier. Alaska and Colorado both claim that handle. Then again, Colorado has a staggering eight nicknames – the Centennial State, the Columbine State, the Mile High State, the Mountain State, the Rocky Mountain State, the Last Old West State, the Switzerland of America, and finally, That Pesky Last Frontier.

Maybe Colorado should just let Alaska be the last frontier and call itself the nickname state.

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SEABROOK: John Carroll is an award-winning journalist and public radio commentator. He teaches at Boston University in the Bay State.