Paul, Obama win N.H. cigar poll

PORTSMOUTH, N.H., Jan. 8 (UPI) -- New Hampshire cigar shop owner Leonard Seagren is looking forward to a more flamboyant political season.

Seagren, who owns Federal Cigar, says people participating in his quadrennial Federal Forecast exhibited more "flamboyant tosses" in trying to sink a book of matches into bags bearing likenesses of their favorite presidential candidates.

This year's contest, which ran Dec. 31 through Sunday, saw Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, capturing 31 percent of the Republican tosses and Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., capturing 46 percent of the Democrats.

"(Voters) were more in favor of their candidates this time than in the past," Seagren told Fosters Daily Democrat.

Following Paul on the Republican side were Sen. John McCain of Arizona with 27 percent, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani with 21 percent, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee with 10 percent, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney with 8 percent and former Sen. Fred Thompson of Tennessee with 2 percent.

On the Democratic side, there was a tie for second between Rep. Dennis Kucinich of Ohio and former Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina with 17 percent, Sen. Hillary Clinton of New York with 13 percent, Sen. Christopher Dodd of Connecticut with 3 percent, Sen. Joseph Biden of Delaware with 4 percent and New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson with 1 percent. Biden and Dodd have both dropped out of the campaign.