Some thoughts and questions on minority turnout in primary elections....
Last night as the clock wound down to the final hours before the polls closed in our New York state primary, a friend and I took a drive through a minority neighborhood hoping to encourage a few more voters to cast a ballot for Obama. We had a van plastered with Obama signs, and we were very well-received. People were gracious and thankful that we were making the effort. The area is predominantly African-American, and my best guess is that in 90 minutes we managed to bring out about 20 additional votes.
But we were taken aback that so many residents were unaware that the primary was happening. Many of the folks we spoke with didn't realize that they were eligible to participate in a primary, even though they are registered Democratic voters. We encountered a widespread misconception that a primary is a special and mysterious ritual restricted to Party insiders.
This leads me to believe that there is a major trove of potential Obama votes out there if the right sort of voter outreach could be accomplished. And I think the best way to get it done is to put real people on the ground, speaking one-to-one with the voters. The electronic media, the Internet, and the newspapers that many of us rely on just don't penetrate into economically disadvantaged neighborhoods.
I'm curious to know if anyone has figures on the rate of minority participation in primary elections vs. general elections? Although Obama has generated exceptional voter turnout in the black community thus far, the experience of last night has me wondering if we can expect an even greater rate of minority turnout for him in the November general election? Would appreciate the thoughts of the experts here at Daily Kos....