tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6719252574677567989.post9028297355215365166..comments2024-03-26T05:22:08.256-04:00Comments on Frontloading HQ: 2008 Presidential Candidate Visits by State and PartyJosh Putnamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06301836432446874997noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6719252574677567989.post-80773108969811985592009-03-16T16:45:00.000-04:002009-03-16T16:45:00.000-04:00Ah, I see someone else has Before the Convention r...Ah, I see someone else has Before the Convention readily available for times like these. <BR/><BR/>[Side note: It still kills me that Nebraska is abbreviated NB in the tables in the appendices.]<BR/><BR/>[Side note 2: The amount of work put into gathering this information is staggeringly insurmountable when one thinks about what Aldrich -- et. al? -- must have gone through to collect the media and visits information in the late 1970s and early 80s.]<BR/><BR/>Aside from that, you won't find an argument from me on your comments. Earlier is better. Period. I suppose I was a bit surprised that Nevada was so high on the Democratic side. The other thing that ties the Democratic top 5 together was that each event had its date all to itself. They were all stand-alone contests with no competition for attention.<BR/><BR/>Oh, and I think "Uncommitted" was able to keep most of the Democrats out of Iowa in 1976. It worked. He/she won. But the media wanted to interpret that as a Carter victory. <BR/><BR/>Seriously though, Carter's "win" there started making Iowa what it is today in the presidential nomination game.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6719252574677567989.post-38562381079350066072009-03-16T15:49:00.000-04:002009-03-16T15:49:00.000-04:00Josh, As a comparison, here are the Top 5 states f...Josh, <BR/><BR/>As a comparison, here are the Top 5 states for the two parties from 1976, the first 'true' year of the Modern Presidential Nomination System (as taken from Aldrich's "Before the Convention").<BR/><BR/>Democrats: Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Florida, New York, and Illinois.<BR/><BR/>Republicans: California, Florida, New Hampshire, Illinois, and a tie for 5th between Texas and North Carolina. <BR/><BR/>It should be noted that on the Democratic side that four of the top five most visited states held four of the first five primaries (New York the exception; it held the 6th primary in 1976).<BR/><BR/>On the Republican side, four of the first five primaries make the Republican top five (Massachusetts is the missing state, a state Reagan did not contest). However, California, which got the most visits, held the last primary of the season. <BR/><BR/>Interestingly enough, Iowa does not make either list in 1976, while it finished #1 for both parties in 2008 (and also finished #1 for the Democrats in 2004). New Hampshire, which was the most visited state in 2000, 1996, 1992, and 1988 (It's probable it was the most visited state in 1984 and 1980 as well, but I'm still collecting data on those two elections), is not #1 in 1976. <BR/><BR/>Or, in other words, states with early primaries have been the focus point of candidates for as long as the system has been in place, but the increased emphasis on Iowa is a more recent occurrence, as well as the even-greater attention paid to the Granite State.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com