Non-Republicans finish second, third in New Hampshire’s ridiculous open Republican primary

Romney came in first with 39 percent, Paul second with 23, and Huntsman third with 17, with Gingrich, Santorum, and Perry trailing behind. What does it tell us that the second and third place finishers are Republicans in name only, Paul being an anti-American (the word “blow-back” always being on his lips), pro-appeasement libertarian, and Huntsman constantly expressing his superior disdain for Republicans? It tells us that they won their second and third place finishes thanks to non-Republican voters in New Hampshire’s open Republican primary. Just as I guessed about the Iowa caucuses before I had seen the exit polls, and I turned out to be right, I’ll guess that half of Paul’s votes in New Hampshire came from non-Republicans, and that the same is true of Huntsman. Remove the non-Republican votes, and Paul and Huntsman would be far back in the pack.

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James P. writes:

It should be no surprise that non- or pseudo-Republican candidates did well in New Hampshire, since CNN reports that roughly half of those who voted were not Republicans. I am unsure why there is a difference between “Party ID” and “Party Registration,” but non-Republicans were 53 percent of the “Vote By Party ID” and were 47 percent of the “Vote By Party Registration.” It is preposterous that these people played a major role in the selection of the Republican candidate!

LA replies:

47 percent is far greater than in Iowa, where 25 percent of the people participating in the caucuses were non-Republicans. Also, since we must assume that most or almost all of the non-Republican votes went to Huntsman and Paul, and since Huntsman and Paul together got 40 percent of the vote, it follows that virtually ALL of Huntsman and Paul’s votes came from non-Republicans.

Who allowed New Hampshire’s primary to continue as an open primary, despite the mess made by past open primaries (e.g., McCain winning New Hampshire with non-Republican votes in 2008)? The Republican party. Neither the party, nor the candidates as far as I know, did anything to protest or change this absurdity.

And even now, how many Republican candidates and politicians are pointing out that the results in New Hampshire, particularly Paul and Huntsman’s second and third place finishes, are not indicative of what Republicans desire, since half the total votes came from non-Republicans?

Posted by Lawrence Auster at January 11, 2012 09:55 AM | Send