Ground Game

The Drudge Report provides two links this morning to Republican primary results in North Carolina and Indiana. In headlines meant to convey intra-party dissatisfaction with John McCain, Drudge declares:

27% OF REPUBLICAN VOTERS AGAINST MCCAIN IN NORTH CAROLINA...

23% GO AGAINST MCCAIN IN INDIANA...

A similarly gleeful tone was taken against McCain by liberal bloggers and some in the media after the Pennsylvania primary, in which McCain received 73 percent of the vote, compared to 16 percent for Ron Paul and 11 percent for Mike Huckabee.

Even though Huckabee has technically withdrawn from the race, his name remains on the ballot and allows evangelical voters to state their preference for a candidate running on "Christian convictions," whether they specifically support Huckabee or not. And Ron Paul has not stopped running, despite acknowledging he can't become president.

Even though McCain has wrapped up his party's nomination, he's still facing two "opponents" on each primary ballot. And Mitt Romney made a return appearance on Indiana's primary last night, taking home 5 percent.

But the question is, are his primary results really that different compared to what George W. Bush received after effectively wrapping up the nomination against McCain in 2000? Bush was considered extremely well-liked by the party's base, and was the frontrunner going back at least till 1999, up through when McCain officially withdrew on March 9, 2000.

So, what happened in the primaries after that? Results from the Associated Press show that Bush's numbers in 2000 are largely comparable to McCain's in 2008. For example, even in the June 6th South Dakota primary, Bush fails to cross the 80 percent threshold. In fact, Bush rarely crossed the 80 percent threshold despite having effectively wrapped up the nomination after Super Tuesday. Some highlights:

Colorado: March 10, 2000
Bush: 64.71
McCain: 27.12
Keyes: 6.57
33.69 percent vote against Bush

Illinois: March 21, 2000
Bush: 67.40
McCain: 21.45
Keyes: 8.96
30.41 percent vote against Bush

Pennsylvania: April 4, 2000
Bush: 72.47
McCain: 22.36
Forbes/Bauer/Keyes: 4.92
27.28 vote against Bush

District of Columbia: May 2, 2000
Bush: 72.79
McCain: 24.37

North Carolina: May 2, 2000
Bush: 78.60
McCain: 10.86
Keyes: 7.85

Nebraska: May 9, 2000
Bush: 78.15
McCain: 15.11

Arkansas: May 23, 2000
Bush: 80.22
Keyes: 19.77

Idaho: May 23, 2000
Bush: 73.45
Keyes: 19.10
None of the Above: 7.45
26.55 vote against Bush

Montana: June 6, 2000
Bush: 77.59
Keyes: 18.32

New Jersey: June 6, 2000
Bush: 83.56
Keyes: 16.44

South Dakota: June 6, 2000
Bush: 78.22
McCain: 13.75
Keyes: 7.68