Of Primary States, Ron Paul Does Best in NH at 8%
Some people complained about "Live Free or Die" in the state where Ron Paul got "only" 8% of the vote.
Now, after Super Tuesday, it appears he did better in New Hampshire than any other Primary state.
Ahem.
No other state with a Primary shows Ron Paul Paul over 7%
| State | % for Ron Paul |
|---|---|
| New Hampshire | 8% |
| New York (who thinks New York is a libertarian state?!) | 7% |
| Michigan & Tennessee | 6% |
Before any results were in, Jason Sorens presciently said the following on the FSP Forum:
You have to distinguish between caucuses and primaries. In caucuses turnout is vastly lower, so Ron Paul does better there since his supporters are more likely to turn out than other candidates'. NH will in the end have the highest Ron Paul votes as a percentage of eligible voting population of all states, and the highest percentage of actual votes for all primary states, I predict. [Feb 5 at 12:32:10 pm]
There you go.
I know it's heresy, but I'd like to see NH move to caucuses rather than primaries.
Update: 4/23/2008
It appears Dr. Paul got 16% in the PA primary! I assume this was due to massive fear at the prospect of a President Hillary Clinton....
Ok, seriously, other than McCain, only Huckabee and Paul were on the ballot, and Huckabee formally withdrew from the race back in March.
Digg
ron paul got twenty percent
ron paul got twenty percent of the votes on super tuesday in montana he had a pretty big grassroots movement spring up in the weeks prior to feb 5
Primary vs Caucus
On the Democratic side, Obama does much better relatively in caucuses than Clinton:
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/02/10/politics/animal/main3813023.shtml
What is the difference between a primary and a caucus?
http://knoxville.wate.com/sound_off/index.php/topic,76.0.html
Caucuses are more demanding, and thus a better measure of the *intensity* of voters' preference.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Majority_criterion
http://www.google.com/search?q=voting+preference+intensity
It is not apparent to me which is better. If people are voting on the basis of knowledge, increased intensity (confidence) might be better. But if they are voting on the basis of interest...a wolf and a lamb have equally intense preferences about what to eat for dinner....