Enthusiasm gap in Ohio was pretty real

[chill_wind]

It was a beautiful enough day. Republicans managed to get up and go vote. They took it all back.

Associated Press - November 3, 2010 6:55 AM ET

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - Ohio's voter turnout was way behind the level seen in the 2008 presidential election and also lagged the last midterm election in 2006.

The Ohio Secretary of State's office reports on its website that 48.7% of the state's registered voters cast ballots on Tuesday. That was down from nearly 70% in 2008 and the 56% turnout in November 2006, the last time Ohioans elected a governor.

more:
http://www.wfmj.com/Global/story.asp?S=13436013

[BootinUp]

1. Political burnout. nt

[David__77]

2. I admit, as I sat here in California, I misjudged the national mood.

From here, the "enthusiasm gap" seemed like a media narrative that was really a paper tiger - apparently not. This was an electorate we'll never see again, thankfully. But a perfect storm gave rise to it. I have to say that those who think now is not the time for recriminations are wrong. We need new leadership for the party and our legislative caucuses. We need to purge our party of those beholden to the big banks. That latter point is crucial, and what prevented 2010 from looking more like 1934 electorally.

[chill_wind]

5. Agreed.

And sorry the unrec parties don't like to face facts, but this morning in Ohio, for certain, they are what they are.

[Igel]

17. It's easy to misjudge things.

Most of us want to assume that we're pinned at that 50% point, not extreme. That our friends are also not extreme. That those we don't like *are* extreme.

We mostly want to assume that the people we hang out with are fairly representative of the world, or at least the US, or at least our state. Except for those people we don't like, but they don't matter anyway and, besides, there aren't many of them. Except when there are too many of them.

By that token, the US electorate is composed of a lot of people with PhDs or at least MAs, many of which are fiercely (D) but absolutely politically illiterate and with no kids--or they're minorities, perhaps with a high school education, and also fiercely (D) and have lots of kids. Voter turnout should have been about 80% of all people over age 18 who were citizens. Of course, I live in Texas, so it goes without saying that this is false.

When I was in my 20s the US electorate would have consisted of people with high school diplomas and no college, fiercely conservative consisting entirely of very religious non-voters. The US was nearly all white. I lived in Oregon. At least the "nearly all white" applied to the state, even if it has tended (D) for the most part.

In short, whether in Oregon, Texas, New York, California, or Maryland I've created a bubble around me by where I've chosen to live, what my occupation or field of study was, by the friends I picked up along the way and acquaintances I downplayed in my life.

My information comes from a kind of bubble, as well, and I choose to read widely: For foreign news, foreign newspapers in the dominant language of the country at issue whenever I can manage it; for domestic news, from the fairly liberal to the fairly conservative, since there are usually at least three sides to every story, with upwards of 30% of each side being vaguely loony.

I know this--and strongly suspect I don't really have a clue to the extent to which my bubble colors my worldview--and so it's sometimes entertaining to see people in their bubbles, whether it's talking to a former Russian Party member or a Russian ex-pat, some Czech in a pivnice or a Peruvian grad student or a faculty member visiting for an invited talk.

[Botany]

3. "they" have been pouring money into Ohio for over a year and 1/2 .....

.... with bullcrap ads about the deficit and Obama's failed stimulus that cost Ohio
jobs ..... it was brutally effective.

[chill_wind]

4. Very effective. Even more effective when the electorate stays home.

Brutal outcomes in Ohio.

"Republicans swept every statewide office, seized back the Ohio House from Democrats, won a majority of the state's congressional seats and held on to a U.S. Senate seat."

[Botany]

9. It was meant to suppress voter turn out on the left

And it worked too.

[chill_wind]

13. Of course it was.

It makes me no less disgusted at the thought processes and turnout in a state with conditions so already bad.

[NEOhiodemocrat]

6. Our precinct had 52.8% turn out

The one thing that sticks with me is one older man (70's maybe) who as he was leaving said "I hope this election goes well, but I am so disappointed after 2008, we had such a great opportunity for change and blew it". At least he was there voting. The negative ads have been nonstop since before summer it seems. And we did not start answering back until after labor day. I think we waited to long, the negative ads were in people's minds, not enough to turn the tide obviously. I have lost my whole State top slate and my representative Charlie Wilson. I could just cry. Stickland is such a good man and a good governor. I can't imagine what Ohio will be like in 4 years.

[Codeine]

7. I hope this puts paid to some of the self-delusion around here.

Just screaming "Nate Silver is a loudmouth asshole " (actual DU quote from yesterday morning, BTW) and loudly predicting that we're going to gain seats is just fucking stupid when we see polling numbers like that. Turns out polling and modelling really is a science when done by real statisticians.

[chill_wind]

12. Not holding my breath. n/t

[HughBeaumont]

8. Ohio's been losing jobs for roughly 15 years straight.

But hey, let's bring Free Traitor greedbag Bushmen and Wall Street lackeys to run our state!! YEAH! That'll fix shit right up. Now we're going to have a shit-ton of unemployed government workers joining their unemployed private sector/blue collar counterparts on the lines. Deficits will soar! Canyon-sized holes in the budget! Let's fucking PARTY now that the "adults" are back in charge!

[mod mom]

10. The ODP coordinated w the DSCC to sabotage SOS/progressive Brunner

in the primary. This is the 1st campaign since 2000 that I didn't lift a finger after the primary. Not only did the establishment send big donors toward one of the most un charismatic candidates ever but the DSCC didn't even list Jennifer Brunner as a Democratic running for senate. Then of course there's the dirty tricks against her:


ALTHOUGH SOS BRUNNER CLARIFIED HER POSITION IN APRIL:

Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner and Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher trade few punches until after City Club of Cleveland debate

By Mark Naymik, The Plain Dealer

April 13, 2010, 6:41PM

-snip
Fisher asked Brunner whether she would endorse him if he wins the May 4 primary. Fisher has already pledged to support her if she wins the chance to face Republican Rob Portman in November.
Brunner said she could not endorse any politician because she will remain the state's chief elections officer through the general election.

-snip

http://www.cleveland.com/naymik/index.ssf/2010/04/secretary_of_state_jennifer_br_2.html

THE FISHER CAMPAIGN MADE HER OUT TO BE A BAD LOSER THE DAY BEFORE THE PRIMARY:
Brunner says she won’t campaign for Fisher if she loses Tuesday

By Laura A. Bischoff and William Hershey
Columbus Bureau
Updated 12:30 AM Sunday, May 2, 2010
COLUMBUS — It’s customary in a primary election for the losing candidate to campaign for their party’s nominee in the fall.

But if she loses Tuesday’s Democratic primary for U.S. Senate, Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner won’t be telling Democrats to vote for the party nominee in November.
Asked by a Dayton Daily News reporter last week how much she would work for Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher if he wins and she loses, Brunner held up her hand and formed a zero.
Her unwillingness to embrace Fisher is indicative of the rancor bubbling in the Democratic Senate race.

Brunner accuses Democratic leaders — including Gov. Ted Strickland — of urging political donors to shut her out. Fisher denies the charge, but has used a giant fund-raising cushion to run TV ads touting his efforts to bring jobs to Ohio.
-snip

http://www.daytondailynews.com/news/election/brunner-says-she-wont-campaign-for-fisher-if-she-loses-tuesday-683022.html

WE NEED SOME NEW LEADERSHIP WITHIN THE PARTY, SOME THAT ACCEPT THAT PROGRESSIVES DESERVE A PLACE AT THE TABLE.

[Botany]

11. Our friend Jenny B would have kicked Portman's ass

:grr:

[mod mom]

14. and more progressives would have worked at GOTV to benefit other

candidates as well!

PAST Time for new leadership!

BTW Fisher got 281,069 less votes than Stickland.

[Botany]

15. I was calling for Mary Jo Kilroy in a GOTV thingy and i heard on 3 ....

..... different times something to the effect I am a good Democrat and will support everybody
except I can not vote for Lee Fisher.


BTW can you give this thread some love?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x9461334

[mod mom]

16. that would explain 281,069 less votes Fisher got than Strickland

Karma is a bitch !

[chill_wind]

18. Strickland lost to Kasich by just 97,052 votes. 2.59 %.

http://vote.sos.state.oh.us/pls/enrpublic/f?p=130:10:0

Ohio Voters Shut Down Democrats in 2010

The most disappointing thing about this election would have to be voter turnout. With more than 8 million registered voters in Ohio, and with less than half that out to vote, it is a real shame that more people are not interested in politics anymore. Americans are pretty good at fighting for the rights we crave, which we then choose to put aside.

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/5967688/most_disappointing_in_ohio_was_voter.html?cat=62

Damn. Damn. Damn.