So Which Is it?
According to Charles Babington in The Washington Post, anger at the President may well drive down Republican turnout and hand victory to the Dems come November.
But as Michael Barone points out, polls are not good indicators of turnout, only elections are -- and judging from last week's election for Duke Cunningham's old seat, turnout seemed largely the same as in 2004.
Here's the thing: As everyone concedes, it seems hard to imagine Democratic turnout being any higher than it was in 2004; Republican turnout can only fall. It's possible that could happen, of course -- Republican anger at spending, immigration, etc. etc. is well documented.
And I would be almost positive turnout would fall, except for one thing: Republicans and conservatives understand that we are at war. The news from Iraq every day reminds us of the tough decisions that have been made in the past; the news from Iran reminds us that more tough decisions may lie ahead in the future.
However angry they are at Congress and at the President, many Republicans will simply refuse to create a situation where more control over America's foreign policy is put in the hands of a feckless, irresponsible party during a time of war. They know our military deserves better -- and, frankly, so do we all.
But as Michael Barone points out, polls are not good indicators of turnout, only elections are -- and judging from last week's election for Duke Cunningham's old seat, turnout seemed largely the same as in 2004.
Here's the thing: As everyone concedes, it seems hard to imagine Democratic turnout being any higher than it was in 2004; Republican turnout can only fall. It's possible that could happen, of course -- Republican anger at spending, immigration, etc. etc. is well documented.
And I would be almost positive turnout would fall, except for one thing: Republicans and conservatives understand that we are at war. The news from Iraq every day reminds us of the tough decisions that have been made in the past; the news from Iran reminds us that more tough decisions may lie ahead in the future.
However angry they are at Congress and at the President, many Republicans will simply refuse to create a situation where more control over America's foreign policy is put in the hands of a feckless, irresponsible party during a time of war. They know our military deserves better -- and, frankly, so do we all.
posted by LadybugUSA at 12:47 PM
3 Comments:
YES!! I can't see any conservative or Rupublican who has a clue as to what is going on in both foreign and domestic politics voting for a Democrat. Do that and it is 2 votes - one for a Democrat and one less for a Republican. Bottom line is no matter how angry you are with Bush or the Republicans in the House or Senate, the alturnative is unthinkable - at least to me it is. Too much is at stake. I feel the same urgency to elect Republicans as I did in 1994 when voting to put a Republican majority in the House seemed like a divine missiion.
Most conservatives will, I suspect, do as they have since Mr. Reagan left office; hold their noses and vote for Republicans. Like them, I am really tired of voting for seemingly slightly lesser evils, but unless there is some miraculous founding of a 3rd party with candidates composed of saints, the liberals, except, perhaps, Sen. Lieberman, have absolutely no one who comes close to conservative values and principles. Conservatives are exactly where African Americans are, albeit in opposite party affiliation. Would that it were not so, but...
Well, certainly for the conservatives at Carol's site. But I also know there are some out there that will either vote against, or not vote at all to try and send a message. You should have heard the guy ranting on Hugh Hewitt yesterday because Hugh supports moderates! When you have a lefty vs. a moderate, what are you going to do?
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