General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsThere is only one nagging thing about the GA-6 race. It came down to turnout and once again...
I know there was bad weather, and I know it was a special election run-off. And as I have said I know it was a very red district making it very hard to win. However, at the end of the day there was 40% turnout across the board as I understand it. So, once again, not enough Dems/Progressives/Moderates who would have voted for Ossoff came out to actually vote.
The couch sitters need to take some serious responsibility here. There was a very vigorous campaign. MASSIVE communication effort. Everyone knew they had to vote. There were weeks to vote early. They had a good candidate. To the Dems/Progressives/Moderates who would have been for Ossoff but didn't come out and vote, you defeated yourselves yet again. Another 2.5% shift would have done it. I believe about 9000 votes. It is like 2016. Too many Dems simply refused to vote. Big drop from 2008 and 2012. So if you don't like Republicans and if you don't like Trump, then get off the couch once and for all and go vote.
No Dems/Progressives in this district can say they didn't have the time or opportunity. The couch potatoes have no excuse at all. At some point some blame has to rest with the LAZY non-voters. Don't say they weren't inspired. This was a good candidate. Young, smart, qualified, energetic, on point with the economy, progressive on social issues and the environment,...what more could they want in this particular district? People need to get off their butts!
leftstreet
(36,078 posts)LBM20
(1,580 posts)Young, smart, articulate, energetic, spot on with the economy, and spot on with the environment, LGTB rights and other social issues...What the hell more could they have wanted?
flor-de-jasmim
(2,124 posts)Of course, let's not forget the 40,000 "forgotten" voter registration forms, non-verifiable machines. But yes, voter turnout must get better. How else will Washington believe we have had ENOUGH?
Trumpocalypse
(6,143 posts)It is a civic duty to vote and to vote in the best interest of your fellow citizens. To sit home and claim you weren't inspired is just an excuse.
Not Ruth
(3,613 posts)Direct Tweets (young voters do not use Facebook) offering matching contributions for a candidate in their district, links to vote early, a free Uber to vote, and then to work. It might cost several hundred $ per additional vote, but it is possible. $25 million is 25,000 additional votes, even at $1000 per vote.
sdfernando
(4,896 posts)a free Uber to vote then to work could be interpreted as "buying a vote".
Not Ruth
(3,613 posts)sdfernando
(4,896 posts)so the voter is getting a benefit for voting.
On edit: I'm not a lawyer but this is how I believe it works.
Not Ruth
(3,613 posts)sdfernando
(4,896 posts)tavernier
(12,322 posts)That right has been taken for granted for so many years that Americans don't realize that voting is the basis of our freedom. Perhaps as the republicans keep taking away our rights, continue to do things behind closed doors and in secret meetings, the light will dawn. But sadly we are not even close to that yet.
librechik
(30,663 posts)we can never be sure again. THAT is the problem we have. More urgent than turnout, IMO. Get rid of the electronic voting machine concession. Stupid idea.
delisen
(6,039 posts)(men of course were also engaged but in the changing job market we lost a lot of female volunteer work).
It worked in the age when women were locked out of the good jobs market and many did service work and volunteer work---it was heavy on person-to person contact. It was what built the Democratic Party and turned out the vote on Election Day.
There were always "lazy" eligible voters who were either too "busy" to register/vote or too bogged down with family responsibility, or too demoralized.
The volunteers took charge of these on a person-to-person basis. the human connection meant that someone cared if you voted.
Today who is going to come to you face to face and tell you that you matter, your vote matters?
when we figure out how to re-establish what the old "machine" was able to accomplish, we will win every election.
OhNo-Really
(3,985 posts)See new post 😥
OhNo-Really
(3,985 posts)Loge23
(3,922 posts)Things change because people change and, before you know it, sinister forces capitalize on this change. Republicans understand this very well - after all, they are not 50% of the country, not even close. Their policies are designed for a fringe. The only way they can win is to broaden their appeal to the lowest common denominator. To win, they combine the appeal to the un/mis-informed population with tactical support from gerrymandering and voter suppression. Still, they shouldn't have a chance, but whether you want to look at the proverbial glass as half empty (they're gaining) or half full (we're gaining), we all have to admit that we're in a horrendous losing cycle and the results are radically changing our country.
Voter apathy is killing this country much more certainly than any incompetent governance.
We ask for more "exciting" candidates. We rail against the blatantly elitist, sexist, and racist messaging from the right. But the fact is, their core constituents are energized and they come out - ours are not and do not.
Makes me wonder if this whole thing is just gone.
Trial_By_Fire
(624 posts)Voter suppression significantly reduces 'voter turnout'.
JayhawkSD
(3,163 posts)There is just not much faith in the Democratic Party. I have none left. The Democrat of today stands for nothing more nor less than "beat the Republicans," and that is not worthy of my vote.
Democrats of today say "Put us in power and we'll really fuck up the Republicans." Even if that were sufficient cause, they said that in 2006. "Give us the House and we'll stop the war in Iraq."
We not only gave them the House, we gave them the Senate as well. How did that work out for us? Stop the war in Iraq? Hell no, we got "the surge." We got renewal of the Patriot Act. We got immunization of the telecoms. We got the Military Commissions Act. We got extensions of the Bush tax cuts. We got EVERYTHING that Bush wanted.
Will they do any better this time? I don't believe they will, and maybe those whom you condemn as "couch potatoes" don't either.
hrmjustin
(71,265 posts)And it wasn't enough.
justiceischeap
(14,040 posts)We do a horrible job with messaging and if people feel they have no reason to vote--if they feel that vote won't make a difference, then they aren't going to vote. Period. Whether that feeling is right or wrong, the Dem Party needs to convince people that they are a viable alternative.
rgbecker
(4,806 posts)In the Ga. -6 election yesterday, where 50 million dollars were spent mostly on TV lies, a whopping 46 percent of registered voters turned out in early and election day voting. People were amazed at such a high turn out for a off year election. The election was determined by a 2.8% margin or about 6800 votes. That's 1.3 % of registered voters.
Democrats need to turn away from wasting time and money trying to turn Republicans into Democrats and instead give the missing 54% who stayed home a candidate they find attractive enough to bring them to the polls. Where are the surveys asking the "Did not vote" citizens what they are looking for? Is it because they don't see a candidate they like or because they figure either candidate is OK enough? Maybe they think there is no difference or is it that they think no one can change the way the country is going? Do they like the status quo well enough and are happy to just take whatever the rulers hand out?
I'll wager a Democratic candidate that brings a different more radical message would tap into the missing voters and not loose a single normally Democratic voter. This holds for districts across the country. In the recent 2016 presidential election, a turnout of 10 million more voters could easily have won the election for the Democrats. That is only about 7% of the "Did not vote" count. We're talking registered voters here, not even concerning ourselves with those knocked off voter roles because of Republican efforts with Crosscheck, Voter ID's etc.
Let's support candidates that target the majority of Americans who now don't vote, probably because they feel so hopeless.
Blue_true
(31,261 posts)Democrats in red districts in the South are more moderate than Democrats in bright blue districts. You cannot apply a bright blue message to a red district and win, if that was so, California would have only Democrats in Congress. Democrats in red districts must craft a campaign which fits the political sensibilities of their districts.
JayhawkSD
(3,163 posts)...and who has nothing to offer other than mudslinging the opponent. Winger or moderate has nothing to do with it. Democrats have been the party of "get nothing done" when they were in power and once out of power have had nothing to offer beyond insulting everyone who is not kissing their rings.
Mosby
(16,167 posts)Anyone know?
Blue_true
(31,261 posts)At crunchtime, republican leaning voters are more likely to vote and do it early. Until we fix that, we will continue to lose races that we should win.
JayhawkSD
(3,163 posts)We just keep insulting the "couch potatoes" for not voting and we never ask ourselves why they are not voting. What are we doing wrong that is not bringing them out? What are we not offering them? Why are our candidates not igniting them?
You want people to vote for you, you have to turn them on, not off. We have been doing nothing but throwing mud at the other party and running negative ads - turning people off. And we wonder why they aren't voting for us.
mia
(8,356 posts)absolutely nothing. Why study? Why work? Why vote? Why get off the couch?
We aren't turning people off. They weren't turned on to the possibility of helping to create a better society from a very early age.
We start off by giving kids trophies for just showing up to school. Forget about home and classroom participation in the education process. I imagine that many "couch potatoes" never got the chance to know better.
BzaDem
(11,142 posts)Your position is to essentially pretend that non-voters lack agency. A decision to vote is completely up to a potential voter. It is not up to a politician, for quite obvious reasons. A politician only controls their own vote. In a democracy, each vote counts equally.
To make an analogy, if a burgular breaks into an unlocked house, the legal system does not assign blame to the homeowner who leaves the house open. Instead, the legal system assigns blame to the burgaler, because the burgaler (not the homeowner) made the choice.
If a non-voter chooses not to vote, that is ultimately the non-voters problem. This is true both as a matter of words having meaning, and in terms of the consequences of that choice. Ultimately, politicians who lose elections are generally going to do fine. Perhaps they will go into lobbying, and make multiple times what they would make as a politician. Or perhaps they will go into another related, highly compensated field.
The people that aren't going to do fine are the non-voters. When Republicans kick tens of millions off the health insurance rolls, that doesn't affect the politicians, but it does affect their constituents. It also makes them much more likely to vote. So the problem is ultimately self-correcting in the long run (once the painful consequences of not voting are ratcheted up high enough by Republicans).
Of course, these consequences are not pleasant, and it can take years or decades to reverse them (as we will find out shortly once Justice Kennedy retires). So the question is, what can be done to save these non-voters from themselves? Perhaps, instead of complaining about other people making basic factual statements that couldn't be more obvious, you should join them.
JayhawkSD
(3,163 posts)Give me two choices, and only two: one a Republican who is, as you say, throwing people into poverty etc, and a Democrat who is saying nothing other than "Republicans are evil" and is not offering any positive message, other than that I will be allowed to continue to pay exorbitant amounts for health insurance, in fact will be REQUIRED to do so.
I look at that and I recall 2006, when I helped Democrats win both houses of Congress and, instead of ending the Iraq war as promised, they gave us "the surge," the Military Commissions Act, renewal of the Patriot Act, immunization of the telecoms for spying on Americans, drone wars, an illegal war in Libya and multiple extensions of the Bush tax cuts.
And then you blame ME for no longer voting for the Democrat, as I had been doing for fifty years.
BzaDem
(11,142 posts)2006 and is 2008 are great examples. Once the Republicans ratchet the suffering high enough, somehow otherwise non-enthused non-voters become... enthused voters. Reality has a tendency to do that.
The only question is whether some of that suffering can be prevented, by reminding people of the stakes prior to non-voters deciding to inflict suffering on themselves. Perhaps you should join us.
"And then you blame ME for no longer voting for the Democrat, as I had been doing for fifty years"
If you have evidence that someone physically forced you to not vote for the Democrat, you would have my sympathy (not blame). Absent that, this "woe is me, I'm not inspired" attitude is just a poor attempt at accountability avoidance.
OldHippieChick
(2,434 posts)places, but I have lived over 25 years in the South and they like voting for people who live in their district. Carpetbaggers are never above suspicion, even if they live in the next county.
pstokely
(10,510 posts)and even yankees still in the north
renate
(13,776 posts)People who are retired and have nothing to do all day but watch Fox News--they have the time and opportunity to vote.
People who are out there getting things done--those who are more likely to vote Democratic--don't all have the time or opportunity to stand in line for hours to vote. (I'll concede that they could have voted early... but it would still have been a big chunk of time to have to go somewhere to do it.)
If voting by mail were a nationwide thing, our country would look very different. And I would totally blame voters for not voting, if that were the default method of voting.
It's so clear that the powers that be, especially in red states, do NOT want a participatory democracy.
JayhawkSD
(3,163 posts)Still another scapegoat, so that we still don't have to look at our candidates and our campaigns. I have not heard so many excusedes in my life. Russians, FBI, angry white men, self hating women, having to vote in person... Everything except the candidates and a lack of party principles and policies.
mia
(8,356 posts)Thank you for saying this.
jonno99
(2,620 posts)how the country is being run? Don't be lazy - get off the couch and vote!"
Might be best to run it past a focus group first...
Awsi Dooger
(14,565 posts)That's not going out on a limb. So many of our core supporters don't bother with midterms, like single women and youth.
It's all about preference and messaging. Trump will have perfected his attack in two years so we better start preparing...now.
Independents preferred Trump last year, for whatever reason. The good news right now is they have shifted our way. That aspect is far more promising than turnout.
When I lived in Las Vegas for 25 years the GOTV operation improved from virtually nothing to impressively passionate and coordinated by fall 2008, when I left. Massive uptick from 2004 to 2006 and then a new level in 2008. It has continued to evolve, from what I've read and been told. Here in Miami the Democratic operation could hardly be less embarrassing. I've literally received fewer phone calls and outreach in the prior 9 years combined than during one campaign week in Henderson, NV during fall 2008. Meanwhile the Republicans are hammering door to door with waves of volunteers and flyers and yard signs and phone calls. I have no idea if this is representative but it is depressing to say the least. I get the feeling we'll lose every tight race. Next year a Democrat needs to take back this governorship from Rick Scott and all the damage he's inflicted.
OhNo-Really
(3,985 posts)I cancelled Comcast/Infinity after that. Haven't missed cable news one bit and have better uses for that $$
At the time Comcast was one of the top 10 owned by Congress members. speaks volumes and helps explain the huge cost of mobile phone use and cable, you think.
BlackCherokee
(31 posts)Suppression tactics they will continue to lose elections. The couch sitters that the Democratic party refused to knudge are now needed for votes. Ignored for years by the Democrats who tried instead to gain Republican voters while not addressing the gerrymandering and suppression of their own party has landed them with low turnout.
JI7
(89,174 posts)still win easily.
oberliner
(58,724 posts)Why did we spend so much money and attention on this race if it was doomed from the start?
JI7
(89,174 posts)oberliner
(58,724 posts)If so, this would have been the one.
mfcorey1
(10,997 posts)Fait Accompli
(40 posts)Do we really want to devolve into such lunacy?
Fait Accompli
(40 posts)rockfordfile
(8,682 posts)Maybe it's starting to change, but I think the close election had to do with the hatred for Trump.