2008 Wisconsin Primary : the data
The results are in and we have two clear winners : Obama on the Democratic side and McCain on the Republican. Turnout was great, even with frigid temperatures and icy conditions.
Looking a little deeper into the data, I discovered some interesting stuff.
- Over twice the number of Democrats as Republicans cast a ballot in the primary election.
- More people voted for either Obama or Clinton than did for all full Republican field.
- Republicans voted for “other” candidates (outside the top two) twice as often as did Democrats.
Draw your own conclusions as you will. Consider, for example,
- Wisconsin has an open primary and same-day voting. This encourages high turnout and allows for crossover voting.
- McCain has all but won the Republican contest, meaning there is less incentive for Republicans to vote in the primary and more incentive to vote for one of the “other” candidates.
- The cold weather may have discouraged older voters more so than younger voters. (But I don’t buy that).
Filed under politics : Comments (3) : Feb 20th, 2008 by tadfad
February 20th, 2008 at 12:19 pm
One of the main reasons that there was such an enormous difference in Democratic voters vs. Republican voters is that the Republican race is basically over. McCain will be the Republican candidate. However, on the Democratic front, Hilary v. Barack is very much up in the air. Just recently Obama has been gaining ground but this race currently is very much undecided. The result: voters feel that their vote makes more of a difference and they show up regardless of ice or snow.
February 20th, 2008 at 1:05 pm
INTERNET!
February 20th, 2008 at 1:20 pm
Tad, I’m right there with you on the “cold hypothesis.” I’ve been doing my best to avoid leaving the house whenever possible due to the sub-zero temperature. I don’t think the old/young/black/white/male/female vote will be any less deterred from staying warm than the average voter.