… Some scholars say hotly contested primaries encourage voters to support the final candidate in a general election; others say that bitter partisans may support alternative candidates. To explore this question, we looked at vote choice in the 2008 presidential election, which, as is true in 2016, had no incumbent in the race — and included a hard-fought primary. Democrats were fiercely divided between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. …
When Clinton eventually conceded, did her voters fail to vote in November, or defect to the Republican candidate or a third party? CONT.
Nicholas T. Davis & Matthew P. Hitt (LSU), The Monkey Cage