United States General Election Dates

Below are the United States General Election dates (both presidential and mid-term) since 1968:


11/5/1968
11/3/1970
11/7/1972
11/5/1974
11/2/1976
11/7/1978
11/4/1980
11/2/1982
11/6/1984
11/4/1986
11/8/1988
11/6/1990
11/3/1992
11/8/1994
11/5/1996
11/3/1998
11/7/2000
11/5/2002
11/2/2004
11/7/2006
11/4/2008
11/2/2010
11/6/2012

More Info:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_elections_in_the_United_States

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Election_Day_(United_States)

The Four Ways Money Can Be Spent, By Milton Friedman

In Chapter 4 of his book "Free to Choose" Milton Friedman describes the above matrix that depicts how the relationship between the benefactor and the beneficiary influences the exchange of goods.  Below is the excerpt from the book explaining the matrix:

When you spend, you may spend your own money or someone else's; and you may spend for the benefit of yourself or someone else.  Combining these two pairs of alternatives gives four possibilities summarized in the  following simple table.

Category I in the table refers to your spending your own money on yourself.  You shop in a supermarket, for example. You clearly have a strong incentive both to economize and to get as much value as you can for each dollar you do spend.

Category II refers to your spending your own money on someone else. You shop for Christmas or birthday presents. You have the same incentive to economize as in the first case but not the same incentive to get full value for your money, at least as judged by the tastes of the recipient. You will, of course, want to get something the recipient will like--provided that it also makes the right impression and does not take too much time and effort. (If, indeed, your main objective were to enable the recipient to get as much value as possible per dollar, you would give him cash, converting your Category II spending to Category I spending by him.)

Category III refers to your spending someone else’s money on yourself--lunching on an expense account, for instance. You have no strong incentive to keep down the cost of the lunch, but you do have a strong incentive to get your money’s worth.

Category IV refers to your spending someone else’s money on still another person.  You are paying for someone else’s lunch out of an expense account. You have little incentive either to economize or to try to get your guest the lunch that he will value most highly. However, if you are having lunch with him, so that the lunch is a mixture of Category III and Category IV, you do have a strong incentive to satisfy your own tastes at the sacrifice of his, if necessary.

State of Iowa Caucus and General Election Results For 2008 and 2012

Summary

The tables below contain the Iowa Caucus results for 2008 and 2012 and the General Election results for those same years.

Support for representatives of "libertarian" policies increased greatly.  Support for Republican representatives also grew.  Support for Democrat representatives shrank but maintained a majority of total votes cast.


Vote Count Compared to Total State Population

Contest	Total Vote Count 2008	Total Vote Count 2012	Difference 2008 to 2012		Voter Turnout As % of Estimated State Population
				% Change	2008	2012	% Diff
Iowa Caucus	118,917	121,501	2,584	+ 2.17 %	3.96 %	3.97 %	+ 0.01 %
General Election	1,537,123	1,555,570	18,447	+ 1.20 %	51.19 %	50.80 %	- 0.40 %

Iowa Republican Caucus 2008 and 2012

Candidate	2008 Republican Caucus		2012 Republican Caucus		Difference 2008 to 2012
	Count	% of Total	Count	% of Total		% Change
Ron Paul	11,841	9.96 %	26,036	21.43 %	+ 14,195	+ 119.88 %
Mitt Romney	30,021	25.25 %	29,805	24.53 %	- 216	- 0.72 %
Rick Santorum	-	-	29,839	24.56 %	-	-
Mike Huckabee	40,954	34.44 %	-	-	-	-

Iowa General Election 2008 and 2012

Party	2008 General Election		2012 General Election		Difference 2008 to 2012
	Count	% of Total	Count	% of Total		% Change
Libertarian	4,590	0.30%	12,759	0.82%	+ 8,169	+ 177.97 %
Republican	682,379	44.39%	722,754	46.38%	+ 40,375	+ 5.92 %
Write-In	6,737	0.44%	6,840	0.44%	+ 103	+ 1.53 %
Democrat	828,940	53.93%	807,394	51.81%	- 21,546	- 2.60 %

Analysis

Between 2008 and 2012, the total number of votes in these contests when compared to total state population remained relatively similar, however the change in percent of total vote (% Change) changed substantially for representatives of some groups.

For the Iowa Republican Caucus, between 2008 and 2012 Ron Paul had the greatest increase in number of votes (Count) and in change in number of votes (% Change).  The only other candidate to compete in those same contests was Mitt Romney who received 216 fewer votes in 2012 than he did in 2008 (note: Romney did not actively campaign in Iowa for either Caucus).

For the Iowa General Election, between 2008 and 2012 the Republican Party had the greatest increase in number of votes (Count) and percent of total votes (% of Total), however the Libertarian Party had the greatest increase in change in number of votes (% Change).

For the Libertarian Party this trend was also seen nationally.  The Libertarian Party received a total of 1,195,306 votes nationally, which was an increase of 128.24 % over 2008 and an increase of 200.88 % over 2004.  Nationally, the change in number of votes (% Change) for the Libertarian Party has varied greatly since 1972 (the first General Election after its founding in 1971) however this election marked the longest sustained increase in percent of total votes (% of Total) the party has received.



Sources:
http://uselectionatlas.org/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_presidential_election_in_Iowa,_2008
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iowa_Republican_caucuses,_2012
http://sos.iowa.gov/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Libertarian_Party_(United_States)