So, does Rahm's victory in Chicago tell us anything?

[MineralMan]

83. Who are they?

Those who don't vote are not worth discussing. Only people who vote matter in an election. I don't blame the non-voters for anything. That was their choice. They didn't register their opinion in the election. Non-voting is just non-voting.

The trick is to get people out to vote. That's what every candidate is trying to do. If you get more of your voters out, you win. If not, you lose. That's what I'm about in elections. The most effective use of my time is to work to get voters out to vote. I have no other platform, really, so I canvass in my own precinct. I talk to people and try to convince them to go to the polls and vote for the people I'm in favor of. If a candidate has enough people doing that, he or she can win, regardless of other factors like money and advertising.

It's been done, and is being done in almost every election. It works best for local offices, up to the congressional level, but it does work.

Presidential elections are a whole other thing. Local grassroots efforts don't do much good, really. The only way they benefit a presidential election is to increase the number of voters who go to the polls. It's a good thing, but it's not enough.