GOP Registration Dropping, Democratic Increasing

Crossposted at MyDD and MyBO

We are in the fourth year of an unprecedented change in political registration.  Never before has there been as sustained a pattern of decrease in one party's registration and increase in the other's.

Jennifer Steinhauer today in the New York Times discusses this significant trend.

For more than three years starting in 2005, there has been a reduction in the number of voters who register with the Republican Party and a rise among voters who affiliate with Democrats and, almost as often, with no party at all.

Nevada and Iowa are now majority Democratic states, with more voters registered Blue than Red, along with several others.  In 29 states voters register by party affiliation, and during this period no state has switched from majority Blue to Red.

Our Friend and Republican Revolution Comandante Dick Armey says this does not bode well for the GOP and its planned Perpetual Motion Majority:

"Obviously, these are not good numbers for the party to be looking at. Democrats have always had extremely broad multifaceted registration programs."

 He attempts to brush it off, saying that some of these voters may be sick of the GOP but still don't want Obama.  While this may be true in some cases, those truly sick of the GOP enough to change their registration may be too queasy to vote for John McCain and presumptive cabinet member Dick Cheney.

Karl Rove may just be getting Perpetual Motion Sickness watching his plan for everlasting domination fade as he dodges his own legal Raven.

But as much as Mr. Rove may enjoy responsibility for the demise of his party, the rise of the Democrats is not entirely his doing.

... Democrats are also benefiting from demographic changes, including the rise in the number of younger voters and the urbanization of suburbs, which has resulted in a different political flavor there, voting and campaign experts said. The party has also been helped by a willingness to run more pragmatic candidates, who have helped make the party more appealing to a broader swath of the electorate.

I'd like to underline the part in bold (my emphasis added), and maybe put little dancing stars (and twinkle lights) around it.

This is a large part of the appeal of not only Senator Obama, but the shift in Democratic politics that is preceeding and surrounding his run for President.  I will speak for myself but I will echo what more than a handful of until-recently-not-Democratic-voters have said to me: I am here as a newly-registered Democrat for that reason at least as much as I am because of my disgust with the GOP.  If not for a very positive feeling about the Democrat candidate combining with a more general impression that this is not my father's Democratic Party, I would be voting Democrat but keeping my Indie registration.

This is not just a moment of rejoicing for Democrats, it is also a moment of contemplation about what is going right, and how incautious use of these gains could kill the Golden Goose In the Hand:

Among the 26 states with registration data, the percentage of those who have signed on with Democrats has risen in 15 states since 2004, and the percentage for Republicans has risen in six, according to state data. The number of registered Democrats fell in 11 states, compared with 20 states where Republican registration numbers fell.

In the 26 states and the District of Columbia where registration data were available, the total number of registered Democrats increased by 214,656, while the number of Republicans fell by 1,407,971.

That's right, more states are more Democratic and more states are less Republican.  Less states have lost Democratic voters and overall there are more than a million more Democratic registered voters than there were three years ago.  But Independent voter registration is up across the board, and 11 states actually had shrinking Democratic registration.

This, therefore, is a time for lifelong Democrats and party leaders to heed the words, which are a near-perfect reflection of my introduction speech at our Birthday House Party for Barack Obama last night:

"The party has also been helped by a willingness to run more pragmatic candidates, who have helped make the party more appealing to a broader swath of the electorate."

The country is tired of the GOP Karl "BabyFace Doc" DuRovier.  We are tired of extremism - from both sides - and we want incremental, pragmatic, results oriented politicians.  

Niether Ayn Rand nor Karl Marx need apply.