Hat-tip to poster AlphaLop for posting the following link:
www.pewresearch.org/…
Do you see what that chart is doing? And how Democratic participation is… WAY below GOP participation, in the primaries?
Now, another thing you may notice is that those totals are nothing NEAR the totals that finally voted in the GENERAL elections in any given year there. So there is good news, in that for instance, 1996, which looks like bad news on the chart, turned out to be a reelection of Bill Clinton.
How do we make this look better? Much of the answer had better DARNED well include independent voters, who have skyrocketed as a percentage of all eligible voters. They stand at over 40% of voters now. Over 40%. That is a mammoth demographic. Not all of those are left-leaning, but whether left-leaning or not, they are overwhelmingly anti-establishment. They do not like Hillary.
They broke for Sanders in New Hampshire by 73% of left-voting independents in that primary. In Massachusetts, 66% of left-voting independents were for Sanders, versus only 33% for Hillary. In Michigan, it’s looking like 71% of left-voting independents were for Sanders. And in Virginia—Hillary-landslide Virginia—Sanders beat Hillary by over 16 points in Democratic primary-voting independents.
If you get your Hillary, then independents, again over 40% of eligible voters, a massive number of whom are left-leaning, will stay home. That could easily be enough to sink her in the general election (a few million voters is EASILY enough to sink an election). Independent voters want Bernie. I don’t see any way they suddenly turn about and say “my God! I had left my party, but that was before I really knew HILLARY!" Do any of you see that happening?
No time to curate the diary until much later tonight, so have at it.
UPDATE, 7:19 p.m. PST 3/10/16: WOW! I am just overwhelmed by the response to this diary! Thanks for the most vigorous debating I’ve seen in all my years here!
:D
;)