Obama, McCain Win The Insomniac Vote

Captain's Quarters ^ | Jan. 08, 2008 | Ed Morrissey

[jdm]

Barack Obama and John McCain won the battles of Dixville Notch and Hart's Location early this morning, as New Hampshire started its primaries in the two tiny towns after midnight. Traditionally, the Granite State starts off with Midnight Madness in Dixville Notch, which does nothing much more than give the press something to note:

Residents of two tiny towns stayed up late to give Barack Obama and John McCain early victories in the New Hampshire presidential primary.

Voters in Dixville Notch and Hart's Location cast the initial ballots just after midnight Tuesday.

In Hart's Location, Democrat Obama received nine votes, Hillary Rodham Clinton received three and John Edwards received one. On the Republican side, McCain received six, Mike Huckabee received five, Ron Paul received four and Mitt Romney one.

In Dixville Notch, on the Republican side, McCain received four votes, Mitt Romney two and Rudy Giuliani one. On the Democratic side, Obama received seven votes, John Edwards two votes and Bill Richardson one vote.

How predictive are these results? Well, judge for yourself: Wesley Clark won the most votes from these two towns in 2004.

Of course, the news today will focus primarily on the rest of the state. Since this is a primary, we can expect the release of data much later than with the Iowa caucuses, and given the close polling on the Republican side, it may take quite a while to determine a winner. Here are my predictions:

Republicans: McCain 32%, Romney 30%, Huckabee 16%, Giuliani 10%, Paul and Thompson 8%

Democrats: Obama 34%, Clinton 25%, Edwards 20%, Richardson 15%

[Greg F]

McCain received six, Mike Huckabee received five, Ron Paul received four and Mitt Romney one.

. . .

Very limited sample, but Huckabee might surprise tonight with a good showing? That would be a mess, to have Huck, Romney and McCain polling well across states rather than each dominating particular states. I want them to be regional candidates so that we have no nominee or Fred and Hunter hit their strides.

[edcoil]

I heard the interview with Dix’s one independent say it was between Obama and McCain and he said he voted for Obama. I don't see much difference in policy between Obama and McCain either so had laughed.

[jdm]

I think Huck will come in third.

[AU72]

You know you have a bad politics Jones if you stayed up to get the results from Dixville Notch.

[massgopguy]

This primary is a sham. Col. Hunt said that all 25 cars in the parking lot at a Hillary event had MA license plates on them. And callers that voted around 7:00 said the longest lines were “1st time voters and those switching parties” which by the way you had to do in October unless you are unenrolled. All you have to do to vote in NH is say you intend to move ther.

[Sig Sauer P220]

I want to know why the media thinks Obama is qualified enough to be president, but Duncan Hunter is not. Color me baffled.