October 11, 2014

Democrats facing serious turnout problem

The Hill - Polling in recent weeks suggests turnout on Election Day could be very low, even by the standards of recent midterms. That’s bad news for Democrats because core groups in the liberal base are more likely to stay home than are people in the demographic segments that lean Republican.

A Gallup poll last week found that voters are less engaged in this year's midterms than they were in 2010 and 2006. Only 33 percent of respondents said they were giving at least “some” thought to the upcoming midterms, compared to 46 percent in 2010 and 42 percent in 2006. Even more troubling for Democrats, Republicans held a 12-point advantage when those paying “some” attention were broken down by party.

Historically, the core Democratic constituencies of young people, minorities and single women are more likely to skip voting in midterm elections. The current projections suggest that months of effort by the Democratic Party to engage those groups on issues such as the minimum wage and women's pay may have been in vain.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I voted for Obama for his first term but told myself, "if he turns out to be another Clinton, I am finished with Democratic Party forever.'

I am finished with the Democratic party forever.

I am sure that I am not the only one who thought that way.

Anonymous said...

Not surprising, really. What have any Dems done for us lately?

Anonymous said...

There are a few local individual Dems that aren't completely terrible, who I might vote for in a fit of pragmatism, but on the whole I'm not voting for them if there is a better alternative. I'll mainly be voting because there are a couple of ballot measures that would really make my state a better place, if they passed.