Nashua Election

After reading the assignment on "Religious voting and the Kennedy Election" I was intrigued on how this formula actually worked out in his favor even though he lost about 4.3 million voters for just being Catholic. It is amazing to me that there was actually a statistical analysis done on this topic.
On September 11, 2007. The City of Nashua held a primary election for six potential candidates. The two top picks got 36% and 30% of the total votes and will be the two running against each other in the November 6, 2007 election. Both Candidates have great values and can bring a lot to Nashua.
Last week, five days before the election, the local paper had on the front page, in big, very noticeable pictures, three of the candidates running for Mayor. The bold lettering stated that these three candidates have claimed bankruptcy, how can you expect them to run a $220 million dollar City when they can't even run there own financial lives? This was a political dagger to several of the candidates. They were very upset about the article because it happened many years ago and it was not there fault. They were even more adamant about the article after the election, basically blaming the paper for there primary election woes.
In all honesty, I really thought one of the candidates was a shoe in for one of the two candidates (Ben can verify the conversation last week). But I will have to tell you that perception is reality! I read the article last week and could not believe this respected candidate could be in this situation. Then I started to think about the basic facts. The Mayor of a City is, quite simply, a CEO of a major corporation, if a CEO is under performing, then they are let go, it is a little more difficult to just let go a Mayor. I started to have my doubts and then convinced myself that it was going to be very difficult for this candidate to win, and if I was thinking this, than I am sure others felt this way after the article. To think about the ramifications of the whole thing is amazing!
It would be a very interesting study to see the before and after results of this article. Just like in the Kennedy election, he lost votes but still one because of the electoral college. It should be a before and after, to see the candidates on top one day, and are down in the gutter the next. The effect it has on the whole politcal arena, whether it is being Catholic or claiming Chapter 11, something negatively focused had a cause and effect. Better yet, a study on media intervention and candidacy success would be interesting as well.