Poll methodology: drive 52 miles on assorted roads through small towns in southwest New Hampshire, 11 days before the presidential primary. Put two teenage boys in the back seat armed with pads of paper and pencils. Driver yells out “left” or “right” as political signs are spotted on each side of the road. One teenager keeps a running tally of the total number of signs for each candidate. The other teenager tallies up the total number of distinct locations at which each candidate has signs, on the theory that 3 signs for the same candidate at the same intersection may not represent the same level of popular support as 3 signs scattered over 20 miles. Driver periodically tosses peppermint patties and potato chips into the back seat so teenage scribes do not starve.
Results for the Republican candidates are listed below:
| Candidate |
# Signs |
% Signs |
# Locations |
% Locations |
| Mitt Romney |
41 |
33.6 |
17 |
26.2 |
| Rick Perry |
20 |
16.4 |
13 |
20.0 |
| Ron Paul |
20 |
16.4 |
12 |
18.5 |
| Newt Gingrich |
19 |
15.6 |
11 |
16.9 |
| Jon Huntsman |
15 |
12.3 |
10 |
15.4 |
| Rick Santorum |
7 |
5.7 |
2 |
3.1 |
| Michele Bachmann |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Total |
122 |
100% |
65 |
100% |
That’s right, not a single sign for Bachmann. We did, however, see one sign for the Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson.
I’m a little skeptical about the Rick Perry numbers since, based on sign spacing, it looked like there may have been one eager Perry supporter who started off with a car full of signs and left them every mile or so, since they were almost all in a 10-mile stretch of the same road. Other than that, the signs were fairly randomly distributed along our route. It will be very interesting to see how closely this tally matches the actual election results.
Wow, a way to keep teen boys entertained, or at least busy, and good data!
I’m not sure what it says that the only woman in the race has no signs. On one hand, she’s batshit crazy and MN doesn’t like to claim her. On the other hand, she’s not worse than Santorum, to my mind (Mr. Frothy Mix…) so why he has any signs or legitimacy makes me wonder. Granted, I think most of them would be flat out dangerous in office, and I hope none of them can beat Obama, but one never knows how mixed up the world will be on election day. Keep us posted on how your results match up.