A new report from American University’s Center for the Study of the American Electorate concludes that voter turnout in Tuesday’s election was the same in percentage terms as it was four years ago ”” or at most has risen by less than 1 percent.
The report released Thursday estimates that between 126.5 and 128.5 million Americans cast ballots in the presidential election earlier this week. Those figures represent 60.7 percent or, at most, 61.7 percent of those eligible to vote in the country.
“A downturn in the number and percentage of Republican voters going to the polls seemed to be the primary explanation for the lower than predicted turnout,” the report said. Compared to 2004, Republican turnout declined by 1.3 percentage points to 28.7 percent, while Democratic turnout increased by 2.6 points from 28.7 percent in 2004 to 31.3 percent in 2008.
[blockquote]“A downturn in the number and percentage of Republican voters going to the polls seemed to be the primary explanation for the lower than predicted turnout,†the report said.[/blockquote]
A direct consequence of nominating someone who has spent a good part of his political career kicking his own party in the shins.
Jeff, You are talking about my own party. I think, over the past few years, we have deserved more than one kick in the shins. — Stan
John McCain is an honorable man, and since when is it disloyal to try to correct your party when you think it’s wrong?
Hopefully, the Blue Dogs will be kicking the Democratic Party and its new President in the shins, early and often.
[blockquote]I think, over the past few years, we have deserved more than one kick in the shins.[/blockquote]
Very, very true, but they weren’t the shins McCain was kicking.
[i]John McCain is an honorable man, and since when is it disloyal to try to correct your party when you think it’s wrong?[/i]
That is an empty statement. If John McCain takes a stand for employers to practice labor arbitrage and rent-seeking, does that make him honorable? If the Republican Party rank-and-file oppose the government’s deliberate displacement of the native working class, does John McCain’s sponsorship of immigration “reform” with Ted Kennedy make him a loyal Republican? On numerous issues, John McCain chose to burnish his so-called maverick credentials with the MSM rather than stand on conservative political principles. Not that I’d describe the Republican party as “conservative” at this point.
In any event, he’s off the stage now.