In the wake of Barack Obama's victory last month, there was a lot
of hand-wringing among Republicans about the strength of Obama's
turnout operation just as after 2004, Democrats were lamenting
the smooth Republican organization and savvy microtargeting. But
for the Georgia run-off, Obama kept offices open and was lending
his turnout operation to Democrat Jim Martin, yet Saxby Chambliss
still won handily. This is a good indication of what I've
believed for a long time -- that all of the emphasis on
organization distracts us from facing the reality that candidates
win when they give voters a reason to vote for them and/or
against their opponent, not because of the superior use of the
latest technology. The final
national turnout numbers now confirm that this election did
not produce the record turnout that was widely expected, and that
the youth vote was widely exaggerated (yes, Obama did win a
higher percentage of them than Kerry, but they didn't go to the
polls in the numbers that were anticipated). But at the same
time, Republicans stayed home, because they weren't given a good
enough reason to vote for John McCain. In short, Obama did not
win because his campaign was better at text messaging and using
Facebook, but because his message had more resonance to the
electorate in this political environment.
Good logic and I don't necessarily disagree with it. But the GOP
will ignore the new technology at its own peril. The problem is
that Obama had the mainstream media in his pocket, and that is an
advantage that a GOP candidate never will have. We need to Web
and other tools to bypass the MSM and get the message out.
Brian| 12.3.08 @ 10:04AM
Any so-called "conservative" who stayed home with soiled diapers
on election day, is an ignorant, worthless coward who doesn't
deserve citizenship.
Countless Americans died for our right to vote. This was truly a
watershed election and now we have an unqualified, inexperienced,
far-left, corrupt incompetent as President-elect.
Citizenship isn't about you and your little pet issues. It's
about doing what's best for the country. So-called
"conservatives" who stayed home on election day need to start
thinking about something else besides themselves.
MC| 12.3.08 @ 10:13AM
I agree this is good logic! The left side illuminati camp
presented a better argument case as to why there side should be
elected, and great presentation of ideas is key in getting votes.
Bob| 12.3.08 @ 10:35AM
You make the mistake assuming that "Republicans stayed home". The
total percentage of the population that voted was about the same
as in 2004. Segment votes were not much different than in the
past except that Obama got a higher percentage of each of the
groups. The fact is that many Republicans became independents
because the percentage of independents grew dramatically. I've
seen this mistake done several times by ideological Republicans
because they don't want to admit that the party is losing people.
Facts are stubborn things....
Captain America| 12.3.08 @ 10:38AM
I won't read too much into the Georgia vote yesterday.
The most salient fact, cynical as it may be, is that Martin isn't
black. Therefore, the turnout from black voters was down
considerably.
Obama got 95% of the black vote. Enough said.
Jeremiah| 12.3.08 @ 11:25AM
Captain America --
"Enough said"?
So like a conservative of your ilk to brush up against the most
salient and complicated issue in American society and American
history with a brief, reductive sentence and declare the matter
closed.
Up until this last election a majority of white people voted for
white candidates for president. What am I to read into this fact?
Leaping from postive fact (assuming your idiotic little foray
into statistics is accurate) to normative or sociological claim
is a dangerous business, even for people who aren't inept,
ignorant, and foolish and bigoted, like you.
Perhaps the fact that Obama won a majority of white voters has
completely escaped you.
Perhaps the senility of his Republican challenger or the
obtuseness of his running mate contributed something to Obama's
victory.
Perhaps Obama's eloquence -- much maligned by the proud
ignoramuses that stuff these fringe enclaves of the internet --
is a welcome relief to a majority of Americans who, after eight
years of listening to a daft, inarticulate fool mangle the
language and mislead this country, require that their chief
executive be able to hold more than one idea at a time in his
head and explain government policy. Weird that the party that
xenophobically cries out for "English only" policies puts forward
Bush and Palin as leaders, neither of whom seem capable of
stringing so much as three grammatically correct English
sentences together at a time.
Or perhaps the failure of McCain to present policy proposals that
seemed to have anything to do with the problems this country now
faces has something to do with his loss.
When will "conservatives" (you aren't really conservatives,
you're just bigots) have something other than divisive and
poisonous and shallow and hateful attacks against people
different from them to offer?
Although Obama has run his campaign Organic Pigmentsalmost
completely as a to the administration of one George Ink Pigments the parallels
between their campaigns are apparent.
Rich| 12.3.08 @ 9:57AM
Good logic and I don't necessarily disagree with it. But the GOP will ignore the new technology at its own peril. The problem is that Obama had the mainstream media in his pocket, and that is an advantage that a GOP candidate never will have. We need to Web and other tools to bypass the MSM and get the message out.
Brian| 12.3.08 @ 10:04AM
Any so-called "conservative" who stayed home with soiled diapers on election day, is an ignorant, worthless coward who doesn't deserve citizenship.
Countless Americans died for our right to vote. This was truly a watershed election and now we have an unqualified, inexperienced, far-left, corrupt incompetent as President-elect.
Citizenship isn't about you and your little pet issues. It's about doing what's best for the country. So-called "conservatives" who stayed home on election day need to start thinking about something else besides themselves.
MC| 12.3.08 @ 10:13AM
I agree this is good logic! The left side illuminati camp presented a better argument case as to why there side should be elected, and great presentation of ideas is key in getting votes.
Bob| 12.3.08 @ 10:35AM
You make the mistake assuming that "Republicans stayed home". The total percentage of the population that voted was about the same as in 2004. Segment votes were not much different than in the past except that Obama got a higher percentage of each of the groups. The fact is that many Republicans became independents because the percentage of independents grew dramatically. I've seen this mistake done several times by ideological Republicans because they don't want to admit that the party is losing people. Facts are stubborn things....
Captain America| 12.3.08 @ 10:38AM
I won't read too much into the Georgia vote yesterday.
The most salient fact, cynical as it may be, is that Martin isn't black. Therefore, the turnout from black voters was down considerably.
Obama got 95% of the black vote. Enough said.
Jeremiah| 12.3.08 @ 11:25AM
Captain America --
"Enough said"?
So like a conservative of your ilk to brush up against the most salient and complicated issue in American society and American history with a brief, reductive sentence and declare the matter closed.
Up until this last election a majority of white people voted for white candidates for president. What am I to read into this fact?
Leaping from postive fact (assuming your idiotic little foray into statistics is accurate) to normative or sociological claim is a dangerous business, even for people who aren't inept, ignorant, and foolish and bigoted, like you.
Perhaps the fact that Obama won a majority of white voters has completely escaped you.
Perhaps the senility of his Republican challenger or the obtuseness of his running mate contributed something to Obama's victory.
Perhaps Obama's eloquence -- much maligned by the proud ignoramuses that stuff these fringe enclaves of the internet -- is a welcome relief to a majority of Americans who, after eight years of listening to a daft, inarticulate fool mangle the language and mislead this country, require that their chief executive be able to hold more than one idea at a time in his head and explain government policy. Weird that the party that xenophobically cries out for "English only" policies puts forward Bush and Palin as leaders, neither of whom seem capable of stringing so much as three grammatically correct English sentences together at a time.
Or perhaps the failure of McCain to present policy proposals that seemed to have anything to do with the problems this country now faces has something to do with his loss.
When will "conservatives" (you aren't really conservatives, you're just bigots) have something other than divisive and poisonous and shallow and hateful attacks against people different from them to offer?
dad29| 12.3.08 @ 9:37PM
Just say it: McCain's platform and speechifying was largely incoherent. He had no program; he only had what John McCain thought.
Trouble is, he didn't think enough.
pigment Red| 4.6.10 @ 2:23AM
pigment Red
czmaxpct@gmail.com
Although Obama has run his campaign Organic Pigmentsalmost completely as a to the administration of one George Ink Pigments the parallels between their campaigns are apparent.