Why is Republican turnout down this cycle?
In Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina, turnout surged, compared to four years ago and each state went to a different candidate.
But that trend appears to be on the decline. In both Florida and Nevada, turnout dropped sharply from 2008. Florida saw nearly 280,000 fewer voters in its primary last week, while more than 11,000 fewer voters turned out to vote in Nevada on Saturday compared to four years ago. Mitt Romney won both states by a landslide.
Some observers say the declining interest is a reflection of the lack of enthusiasm for the former Massachusetts governor…
Some observers, however, point to a trend of higher turnout in counties where former House speaker Newt Gingrich outperformed Romney.
“He’s much more of an attack dog when it comes to not only his primary opponents but also his potential general election opponent, Obama,” said Michael McDonald, a professor at George Mason University who runs the United States Elections Project, which monitors election and turnout data. “The Republican voters really crave someone who’s going to display that sort of attack mentality when it comes to the general election. That’s something you can get enthused upon. Romney’s campaign is not a campaign that seems to be able to spark that kind of enthusiasm.”
Blowback
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If you don’t like Romney and are not going to vote for him if he is the nominee, that is your prerogative. More power to you.
If you are inspired by the likes of Palin and Newt, that is also your prerogative…although you should probably be embarrassed or ashamed to admit it.
xxessw on February 7, 2012 at 4:02 PM
Do yourself and everyone else a favor and don’t vote for Romney. Instead, write in Palin or Perry or that other conservative behemoth Haley Barbour. Phew…feel better now?
xxessw on February 7, 2012 at 4:05 PM
..you, like so many here with whom I have..er..tangled are exceedingly kind. As I said on the other thread, no matter how angry we get here (and, to be clear, you and I have been very friendly), we are far closer to each other than we are to those shrieking, liberal loons on KOS or the other lib blogs.
It’s a waste of time for me to get angry, so I am dumping my sarcasm and cynicism for constructive comments and questions. I will try, any wayHell, since I adopted that attitude, even AngryEd makes some sense.
There’s hope for me yet.
(As an aside to you, Dire — and I apologize for this cheap, shameless blogwhoring link — but head over to here and leave a comment. My pm, should you want it, is at gmail. Love to hear from you.)
The War Planner on February 7, 2012 at 4:13 PM
the problem is you and other mitt supporters think this advice is the ticket to victory. lol. delusional. never in my life have I seen supporters telling other people not to vote for their guy. the problem with the Mitt supporters is they think they don’t need nor do they want others in their little circle. It’s a pure elitist mind frame and it will be the reason Mitt goes down in flames to Obama.
Jeb will do no better either. Politics is not a country club. You don’t want to keep people out you want to invite them in. It is that mind set that made the gop party the minority party for generations. Not until Reagan came and invited avg people into the party did the gop gain majority status.
oh well as zell miller said I didn’t leave the party the party left me.
enjoy your tight little circle in the minority.
unseen on February 7, 2012 at 5:24 PM
Good Deal..I agree with 100%..
PS..You have a very good blog..I will definitely give it a look..
Dire Straits on February 7, 2012 at 6:17 PM
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