This Is Why I'm Happy
Wed Feb 27, 2008 at 09:37:55 AM PDT
Dallas County broke the '06 total vote yesterday, with over 57,000 early votes (not counting the mail ballots). We've looked at about 55,000 of those, and as best we can tell, virtually half have no '02, '04 or '06 primary history. Less than 3,000 have previous R primary history over the same period.
Primary season... silliness abounds. Here, at MyDD, across The Tubes, people have been getting their undies in a bundle for good reasons and bad (often, really bad).
Hillary isn't human! Obama leads a cult! I'm gonna vote for McCain if ___ doesn't win!
Ah, primary season...
But primaries are fundamentally a good thing. Here's why.
...early numbers in Texas are off the charts. In the top 15 counties with registered Democratic voters, there have been 419,904 early votes cast. Four years ago, the number was 72,688.
Say what you want about Obama and Hillary. Say they're evil incarnate or the second coming, but you can't deny that this primary has helped to radicalize and build the Democratic base.
Youth getting involved is a good thing. Lots of early voting is a good thing. Strong campaign organization is a good thing. Getting people to caucus is a good thing.
Our primary system is messed up. But despite our system's quirks and flaws, Clinton and Obama, two very strong, very charismatic Democrats, have mobilized and excited our base. They've mobilized and excited me.
In 2004, we saw about 60% voter turnout. With margins as close as they've been recently, it wouldn't take many more new voters to not only swing the election in our favor, but help create an enduring Democratic primacy. The more involved voters are, the more they give money and vote in primaries, the more likely they are to do so again and again and again.
So, thank you Senators Clinton and Obama, for a hard-fought, strong campaign. No matter which one of you comes out with the nomination, the real winner is the Democratic Party.
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