Good News For Us
This makes me want to do a happy dance.
Intense and widespread opposition to President Bush is likely to be a sharp spur driving voters to the polls in this fall's midterm elections, according to strategists in both parties, a phenomenon that could give Democrats a turnout advantage over Republicans for the first time in recent years.
Polls have reflected voter discontent with Bush for many months, but as the election nears, operatives are paying special attention to one subset of the numbers. It is the wide disparity between the number of people who are passionate in their dislike of Bush vs. those who support him with equal fervor.
Lately, there have been a lot more of the former -- and even Republicans acknowledge that could spell trouble in closely contested congressional races.
[...] In the recent past, this perennial truism of politics -- emotion equals turnout -- has worked more to the Republican advantage. Several weeks before the 2002 midterm elections, Bush had 42 percent of voters strongly approving of him, compared with 18 percent in strong opposition. Democrats were stunned on election night when Republicans defied historical patterns and made gains in the House and Senate. The president's party usually loses seats during the first midterm elections after he takes office.
The premise behind the Democrats' hopes this year is simple, though not easy to quantify: People impassioned by anger or other sentiments are more likely to vote -- even in bad weather and in relatively low-profile races -- than are those who are demoralized or less emotional.
I'm not holding out any hope that the Democrats can take back the House *and* the Senate, but I have full faith that we can retake one or the other. At the very least, we are going to make serious dents in the GOP stronghold. Americans are angry and tired of Bush's bullshit - and they're going to take it out on the thugs currently in office. Democrats have to pounce on this and milk it for all it's worth.
FYI? November is only 7 months away. Do you know who's running in your state or district? When (or even if) the primaries will occur? Which candidate to choose? Gets to checking. Two good places to start:
++ Project Vote Smart
++ Wikipedia's breakdown of the House, Senate and Gubnatorial elections this year.
Intense and widespread opposition to President Bush is likely to be a sharp spur driving voters to the polls in this fall's midterm elections, according to strategists in both parties, a phenomenon that could give Democrats a turnout advantage over Republicans for the first time in recent years.
Polls have reflected voter discontent with Bush for many months, but as the election nears, operatives are paying special attention to one subset of the numbers. It is the wide disparity between the number of people who are passionate in their dislike of Bush vs. those who support him with equal fervor.
Lately, there have been a lot more of the former -- and even Republicans acknowledge that could spell trouble in closely contested congressional races.
[...] In the recent past, this perennial truism of politics -- emotion equals turnout -- has worked more to the Republican advantage. Several weeks before the 2002 midterm elections, Bush had 42 percent of voters strongly approving of him, compared with 18 percent in strong opposition. Democrats were stunned on election night when Republicans defied historical patterns and made gains in the House and Senate. The president's party usually loses seats during the first midterm elections after he takes office.
The premise behind the Democrats' hopes this year is simple, though not easy to quantify: People impassioned by anger or other sentiments are more likely to vote -- even in bad weather and in relatively low-profile races -- than are those who are demoralized or less emotional.
I'm not holding out any hope that the Democrats can take back the House *and* the Senate, but I have full faith that we can retake one or the other. At the very least, we are going to make serious dents in the GOP stronghold. Americans are angry and tired of Bush's bullshit - and they're going to take it out on the thugs currently in office. Democrats have to pounce on this and milk it for all it's worth.
FYI? November is only 7 months away. Do you know who's running in your state or district? When (or even if) the primaries will occur? Which candidate to choose? Gets to checking. Two good places to start:
++ Project Vote Smart
++ Wikipedia's breakdown of the House, Senate and Gubnatorial elections this year.