Does being from a neighboring state matter at all?

[Bacon King]

I think it only really matters with regards to media markets, and even then it's only relevant for a candidate who has held statewide office- so voters are familiar with them from previous campaign ads and state news coverage and such.

See, for example, Obama's Iowa caucus performance in the counties that bordered Illinois.

[Bacon King]

I think it only really matters with regards to media markets, and even then it's only relevant for a candidate who has held statewide office- so voters are familiar with them from previous campaign ads and state news coverage and such.

See, for example, Obama's Iowa caucus performance in the counties that bordered Illinois.

On the other hand, Hillary won all of the Indiana border counties, except for Lake County where Obama had an unimpressive 13 point victory. The Gary area should have been landslide Obama.

True, but unlike Iowa, only five Indiana counties in the northwest corner of the state are in an Illinois-based designated market area. The rest of the state watches Indiana-based TV stations.

Granted, I have no idea why Obama didn't do better in Gary- but that's just proof that being from a neighboring state doesn't really matter too much at all.

[Bacon King]

Further evidence, while I'm at it:

2008 GOP-
Huckabee did much better in the parts of Texas, Louisiana, Missouri, Tennessee, and Oklahoma that have TV market territory in Arkansas. The only counties Romney won in New Hampshire were in the Boston media market.

2004 Dem-
Look at the counties Dean won in New Hampshire, and look where Kerry polled the strongest (not counting the sparsely populated northernmost county). Same with John Edwards in SC.