Agreed that the historical college voting turnout has been disgraceful (good news for the GOP, at least)but, with the election appearing winnable for the lefties by mere virtue of showing up to vote, do you think the little dears won't cease their narcissm long enough to pull a couple of levers? Do you think the first time voters residing in these left wing think tanks don't remember 2000 and the impact of a few votes here and there? Anybody that thinks this election is a done deal at this point should think again...sure Kerry has no margin for error, but Ohio is quite winnable for him, and if he winds Ohio, we will be referring to President elect Kerry on Wednesday of this week...then again, it's quite winnable for Bush as well...sorry for the equivocation, but this thing is up for grabs, in a big way...
This election will be close in key areas like Ohio and there's no excuse for complacency surely. That said, my experience with narcissistic lefties has been that nothing short of onest work for a long time is strong enough to break it. They believe so thoroughly in the principle of Free Stuff that even the tiny effort involved in getting off the couch, putting down the bong, going down to the poll, standing in line and pulling the lever is a violation of the Purity of the Free Stuff Idea. They have no more memory of the 2000 election than my dog has. That said, since Republicans doubt the Free Stuff notion, we must make a concerted effort to turn out every Republican vote.
You know, I'm on the ground here in what some have called the battleground region of a battleground state (central OH, Franklin Co.). I have seen tremendous numbers of Kerry-Edwards ads running on local cable to essentially none for Bush-Cheney. There are numerous yard signs for Kerry in places (like my neighborhood) where you would expect Republican strength, middle class, persons of no-color. I have read stories where the 'rats have registered something like 100,000 more new voters than Republicans. Given that Bush's margin here in 2000 was just a little over that, coupled with anxiety over the 200,000+ jobs lost here in the last four years, and you're looking at a state ripe for picking by the 'Rats.
Other FReepers in different areas of the state have noted on these threads that they have seen Bush strength elsewhere, and I do not doubt that this is true. Bush is strong in the southern part of the state, the Cincinnati area, but that is typically true for Republican candidates. I have heard that the Dayton suburbs have also indicated some measure of support for Bush-Cheney. But central OH looks very, very close, with the edge to Kerry at this point, I'm sorry to say.
College students may not be registered at the location of their college but of their family home. This means in a lot of cases long travel to go vote, on top of school/social schedule. If they are from out of state - fahgetaboutit! That's why their turnout is so low.