Florida GOP Turnout Actually Fell (15%) From 2008
Florida GOP Turnout Actually Fell From 2008
Underneath tonights big win for Mitt Romney in the Florida Republican primary, is a statistic that might suggest enthusiasm is flagging among GOP voters in this large and crucial swing state: turnout was actually down significantly from 2008.
In the 2008 Republican primary in Florida, in which John McCain beat Romney by a margin of 36%-31%, a total of nearly 1.95 million votes were cast.
But in tonights primary, turnout was actually much lower. At time of writing, with 98% of precincts reporting, the total turnout is only about 1.65 million a drop-off of 15% in terms of the raw number of voters.
Romney did increase his own vote total, though. In 2008 he received about 605,000 votes. Tonight, it is up to about 765,000. (One can imagine him combining some of his old votes, with some of McCains in 2008, for his strong 46% plurality.)
MORE:
http://2012.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/01/florida-gop-turnout-actually-fell-big-time-from-2008.php?ref=fpblg
livetohike
(22,144 posts)ChairmanAgnostic
(28,017 posts)ChairmanAgnostic
(28,017 posts)an ever shrinking segment of the general population. This bodes well for november.
rfranklin
(13,200 posts)I heard they are being held hostage in the Magic Kingdom.
barbtries
(28,798 posts)though i watch very little corporate media, i do listen to npr (well sometimes - often i get pissed and start the CD instead), and i've been amused by their road stories with the R candidates. crowds of up to 50, sometimes 100, little, tiny crowds, apparently the most die hards of the die hards. more than they deserve, but doesn't that kind of indicate an overall disgust with republicans and there terrible candidates?
obama's gonna kick ass no matter who it is.
titaniumsalute
(4,742 posts)So you have to go back to 2008 or 2000 to compare.
barbtries
(28,798 posts)but i thought, perhaps wrongly, that 2010 was a big turnout for republicans, even though non presidential elections are always smaller. my thinking was it could be illustrative of how many republicans are unwilling to vote because the field is so pathetic.
Kolesar
(31,182 posts)L. Coyote
(51,129 posts)MADem
(135,425 posts)Could it be a dejected voting population, that doesn't like the choices at the GOP buffet?
Could it be that a lot of Republicans have enjoyed reversals of fortune, like job layoffs, under-employment, foreclosure, and are starting to realize the the GOP won't give them a damn thing, least of all a hand?
Could it be they're rejecting the Tea Party craziness at long last?
rocktivity
(44,576 posts)I'm sure I read something about Iowa's turnout being lower -- but that was before Santorum actually won. What about SC and NH?
On edit: Here's what I found (from Huffpost, wikipedia, and AP):
Iowa 2008: 118,696
Iowa 2012: 122,255
NH 2008: 239,315
NH 2012: 264,385
SC 2008: 445,499
SC 2012: 601,215
rocktivity
progressoid
(49,991 posts)Wonder how the rest will turn out. Particularly Super Tuesday.
DallasNE
(7,403 posts)Wikipedia for Iowa showed 118,411 vs 120,446 with Santorum the winner by 34 votes and it is closed.
New Hampshire is an open primary where Obama won the independent vote in 2008 so forget NH on turnout. Looking at the SC numbers I suspect the same and the numbers I saw were very close to yours.
Liberal_Stalwart71
(20,450 posts)As much as we didn't support McCain or Huckabee or Thompson, these clowns lower the bar for Romney.
Of course Mittens' problem is that he can't win decisively against them. He has to spend $16 million dollars to do so.
kemah
(276 posts)Plus the negativity just turns people off. Of the four choices, most GOP are waiting for a white and I do mean WHITE knight to come to their rescue. But most smart GOP politicians know that to beat Obama is an uphill battle. They want to wait for 2016, that's why they are not endorsing. The do not want to alienate any GOP group.
caseymoz
(5,763 posts)GOP is creating a disaster, and it will continue as Newt makes this a grudge contest against Romney, and he will.
Also, Newt is 68 years old and this is his last chance at the presidency, and he's an egomaniac, so might just pull a Nader on Republicans.
DallasNE
(7,403 posts)In the Florida GOP primary. In fact, so far voter interest has been down in all of the primary battles and the enthusiasm gap should be a real concern for the GOP. It shows Republicans may not want to defeat Obama if this is the cast to do that.
JDPriestly
(57,936 posts)The winner could be predicted, but this number is a sign of things to come.
yellowcanine
(35,699 posts)That is a lot less than 2 million. What happened? The avalanche of ads turned people off?
Response to kpete (Original post)
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