Below is a list of the initial Round 1 balloting, with the votes/gained or lost in subsequent rounds.

Bob Barr: 153, +35, -2, +16, +21, +101
Mary Ruwart: 152, +10, +24, +16, +27, +47
Wayne Root: 123, +15, +8, +3, +16
Mike Gravel: 71, +0, +5, +0
George Phillies: 49, -13, -5
Steve Kubby: 41, -9
Mike Jingozian: 23
Christine Smith: 6

Now for an analysis of “what happened in Denver?”, round by round.

Round 2

Barr: 188 (+35)
Ruwart: 162 (+10)
Root: 138 (+15)
Gravel: 71 (+0)
Phillies: 36 (-13)
Kubby: 32 (-9)
NOTA: 1 (-1)

Mike Jingozian and Christine Smith were eliminated. Surprisingly, Jingozian’s 23 votes were not added to Gravel’s total, which remained unchanged. It can be presumed that Steve Kubby’s nine votes roughly all went to Mary Ruwart, who picked up ten. Where did Christine Smith’s six go? The 13 that Phillies lost seem to have gone to Root and Barr, with Jingozian’s doing the same. So much for the anti-Root/Barr coalition.

Round 3

Barr: 186 (-2)
Ruwart: 186 (+24)
Root: 146 (+8)
Gravel: 76 (+5)
Phillies: 31 (-13)
NOTA: 2 (+1)

Steve Kubby was eliminated. His 32 supporters seemed to have gone to Ruwart (24), Gravel (5), and NOTA (1), with two defecting to Root. Barr inexplicably lost two votes, undoubtedly to Root. Root looked his strongest here, and if he could have somehow forced himself into the top two, he would have won the nomination.

Round 4

Barr: 202 (+16)
Ruwart: 202 (+16)
Root: 149 (+3)
Gravel: 76 (+0)
NOTA: 2 (+0)

Phillies was eliminated, and his delegates split right down the center between Barr and Ruwart. Many found both equally unacceptable, so it’s a bit surprising NOTA didn’t receive a boost.

Round 5

Ruwart: 229 (+27)
Barr: 223 (+21)
Root: 165 (+16)
NOTA: 6 (+4)

Gravel supported Root, but most of his delegates didn’t. The plurality went to Ruwart, but not enough. The anti-conservative coalition did not hold, and the writing was on the wall, even as Mary took the lead.

Round 6

Bob Barr: 324 (+101)
Mary Ruwart: 276 (+47)
NOTA: 26 (+20)

As expected, about 2/3 of Root’s supporters defected to Barr. If the anti-conservative coalition would have held, then this would have been enough to ensure Mary Ruwart’s victory. The flaw in the thinking of many observers was this idea of an anti-conservative coalition. Or perhaps, it was the missed meeting reported earlier that ended the coalition before it could come into being.