Political Discussion in Primary States

Abstract

Residents of Iowa and New Hampshire are exposed to a much more intense primary campaign than those in the rest of the country. One would therefore expect that those living in these two states would be more engaged with the primary election than residents of other states. Survey data indicate that while this proves to be true of those in New Hampshire, it does not appear to be the case in Iowa. While New Hampshire residents talked about politics more frequently than those in other states—and with greater frequency as their primary approached—Iowa residents discussed politics less often than those in states with primaries on Super Tuesday. The same result was obtained examining only survey respondents who rated themselves very likely to vote in their primary or caucus.