Cross-posted at Left in Alabama.
On the Democratic side, total turnout was 239,000. Barack Obama got 38% of the votes which would be 90,820, John Edwards got 30% which would be 71,700, and Hillary Clinton got 29% which would be 69,310. Republican turnout was estimated at 114,000. If that is correct, then Huckabee got 38,760 votes, Romney got 28,500, and Thompson got about 14,820.
Now, what did it take for Obama to get his 90,820 votes, Edwards his 71,700 votes, and Clinton her 69,310 votes? For the candidates,it took lots of wear and tear on the vocal cords, lots of travel, lots of walking through cafe's interrupting people's meals, and lots of being "on" no matter how exhausted and footsore one might be. Behind the scenes, there are of course paid staff, yard signs, offices, supplies, and a whole logistical tail. But above and beyond the support costs and direct costs to get the candidate face-to-face with people, there is advertising, which happens to be something we can find out.
I poked around a little bit with good ol' Google and dug this up. Obama spent $9 million on about 11000 ad spots. Edwards spent $3.2 million on 3700 ads.
Clinton spent about $7.2 million on about 8000 TV ads. Huckabee spent $1.4 million on 1800 ads. Romney spent $7 million for 8500 ads. Thompson spent $1.1 million for 1100 ads.
So, in advertising costs alone, Obama spent about $99 per vote. Edwards spent about $45 per vote. Clinton spent about $104 per vote. Huckabee spent about $36 per vote. Romney spent about $246 per vote. Thompson spent about $74 per vote.
More fun with a calculator - Obama got 8.26 votes per ad. Edwards got 19.38 votes per ad. Clinton got 8.66 votes per ad. Huckabee got 21.53 votes per ad. Romney got 3.35 votes per ad. Thompson got 13.47 votes per ad.
Both Edwards and Huckabee said at different times, "This is an election, not an auction!" The results seem to bear this out. Romney would have done better to stand in the median of I-80 burning $20 bills. Romney, Obama, and Clinton need to re-think their ad agency, as well.
Aren't metrics fun?