Weigel

Three Maps and Several Numbers That Explain the Tuesday Night Primaries

1) The almost-finished map of Arkansas’s results, with Obama in green and John Wolfe in blue:
Screen shot 2012-05-23 at 9.46.09 AM
That’s 35 counties for Wolfe, who says he spent around $2000. (He hasn’t needed to file with the FEC yet.) 2) Total votes for John Wolfe in the Missouri and Arkansas Democratic primaries: 67,566. A short list of presidential candidates who won fewer votes when they ran:
Rick Perry (54,889)
Chris Dodd (35,284)
Michele Bachmann (29,072)
Orrin Hatch (21,469)
3) If Wolfe spent $2000 in Arkansas, he spent around three-fifths of a penny for every vote. 4) The almost-finished map of Kentucky, with “unfinished” in orange and “uncommitted” in pale blue” Screen shot 2012-05-23 at 9.45.58 AM I already shared this last night, but here’s a map of coal country. Screen shot 2012-05-22 at 8.52.18 PM Obama was weakest in areas that depend on the coal industry. There were other patterns, but none as clear-cut. 5) Mitt Romney’s vote total in Arkansas: 102,183. It’s his first victory in the deep south, with more votes than President Obama got in his uncontested primary. Overall, more people voted in West Virginia, Kentucky, and Arkansas Democratic primaries than in Republican ones. But those are the last three states where a strong, coal-and-or-Wal-Mart friendly conservative Democratic party, dominated by whites, remains the natural majority party.