Well, I decided out of interest to look at the 2008 primary results and see what % they represented of the party's actual vote in the 2004 general and this is what I found:
States with Democratic net enthusiasm Oklahoma: Democratic 80% / Republican 34% - net Democratic enthusiasm +46
South Carolina: Democratic 83% / Republican 48% - net Democratic enthusiasm +35
Illinois: Democratic 71% / Republican 38% - net Democratic enthusiasm +33
Alabama: Democratic 78% / Republican 48% - net Democratic enthusiasm +30
Georgia: Democratic 78% / Republican 41% - net Democratic enthusiasm +27
New Jersey: Democratic 62% / Republican 35% - net Democratic enthusiasm +27
Missouri: Democratic 65% / Republican 40% - net Democratic enthusiasm +25
California: Democratic 74% / Republican 52% - net Democratic enthusiasm +22
Massachusetts: Democratic 69% / Republican 47% - net Democratic enthusiasm +22
New York: Democratic 43% / Republican 22% - net Democratic enthusiasm +21
Tennessee: Democratic 60% / Republican 40% - net Democratic enthusiasm +20
Connecticut: Democratic 41% / Republican 19% - net Democratic enthusiasm +19
Delaware: Democratic 48% / Republican 29% - net Democratic enthusiasm +19
Nevada: Democratic 30% / Republican 11% - net Democratic enthusiasm +19
Iowa: Democratic 31% / Republican 16% - net Democratic enthusiasm +15
New Hampshire: Democratic 83% / Republican 70% - net Democratic enthusiasm +13
North Dakota: 17% Democratic / 5% Republican - net Democratic enthusiasm +12
Minnesota: Democratic 15% / Republican 5% - net Democratic enthusiasm +10
Colorado: Democratic 13% / Republican 6% - net Democratic enthusiasm + 7
Utah: Democratic 54% / Republican 47% - net Democratic enthusiasm +7
Alaska: Democratic 8% / Republican 6% - net Democratic enthusiam +2
Arizona: Democratic 53% / Republican 52% - net Democratic enthusiasm +1
States with Republican net enthusiasm Florida: Democratic 48% / Republican 49% - net Republican enthusiasm +1
Michigan: Democratic 24% / Republican 35% - net Republican enthusiasm +11
Yep, only in the two states where the Democratic primary was not contested, did Republicans outperform Democrats in proportion to the number of votes cast in the 2004 presidential election and even in Florida, it was barely
It's hardly portent of things to come in November, but Democrats are clearly more energised
even when the GOP nomination was being heavily contested
Dave
