Posted on 11/18/2006 2:33:42 PM PST by FairOpinion
What happens in Washington, D.C., can affect state and local elections.
That's what happened on Election Day, when Republican voters stayed home in droves, discouraged from turning out to vote by media reports that the Congress was going Democrat, said Stephen Kinney, a partner with Public Opinion Strategy, a Republican polling company.
"The Republicans stayed home because the election was nationalized," Kinney told a breakfast meeting of the San Gabriel Valley chapter of the Los Angles County Lincoln Clubs on Friday.
Kinney said many statewide Republicans - from lieutenant governor candidate Tom McClintock to Secretary of State Bruce McPherson - were hurt by the lower Republican turnout Nov. 7.
"I'm guessing it was as high as a 10 percent advantage for Democrats," he said.
The difference apparently occurred only on Election Day itself; Republican statewide candidates did well in early and absentee voting, he said.
(Excerpt) Read more at sgvtribune.com ...
Conservatives stayed home, not because of media reports, but because Republican "leaders" in Washinton DC did everything in their power to convince conservatives they would be complete fools to continue to vote them into office. And, yes, it hurt decent Republican candidates...big time...candidates that deserved to be elected.
So the MSM makes up propaganda about DemocRATS taking over Congress and drives down turnout. Of course that doesn't count as a campaign contribution under the campaign finance reform law. Reminds me of how on election night 2000, the Networks called Florida for Gore early while people in the Panhandle were still voting. Many just went home instead of staying in line to vote.
"The Republicans stayed home because the election was nationalized"
Self-destruction is easy. That's what the Republicans did. Change is hard. If they can't get back to being fiscal conservatives, the GOP will be a Democrat party with a socially authoritarian streak. Who needs it?
I hope that is a lesson learned, so there won't be a repeat in 2008.
You can be sure the GOP will be all for smaller govt, now that the Dems are in power. Quelle surprise.
Conservatives hurt by GOP sellout.
There is enough hurt to go around to everyone. National health care, social security going broke, military hung out to dry, higher taxes, no change in the Supreme Court, more social programs, etc.
I've little doubt that, in California, he's probably right.
As to his reason -- widespread press reports of a Democrat sweep -- I'm not so sure.
What do you mean?
This article doesn't claim conservatives stayed home, just the opposite. The easily demoralized voter stayed home- hardly a description of a conservative.
No credible claim of conservatives staying have been made. They certainly didn't in my state.
It is a strange fact though that people vote for who they think is going to win. Democracy is the herd instinct ritualized.
Those in the leadership position are responsible for the defeat.Piss poor leadership! nothing more.Grow the spine boys because that is what its gonna take for you guys to retake your precious power from the RATS.
You really, really need to get off of your high horse and stop bashing conservatives with this stupid guilt by association tactics.
When the GOP acts like big government liberals, with ethical lapses as well, conservatives stay home, and Democrats get elected.
Heaven forfend if some new program or government agency or bridge to nowhere should be created by Democrat legislation.
Republicans must unite to cause gridlock so that the new programs and agencies and bridges to nowhere can be created by Republican legislation!
"We lost four Senate seats by less than 10,000 votes combined. IMHO we didn't give people a reason to vote for us as we used scare tactics about what the Dems would do if elected and they fell flat." ~ PhiKapMom ~
Ping & bump
In CA, in conservative areas voter turnout was low, in Dem areas it was high.
It's in the article, but we can only excerpt so much.
Well, that's good. It is the correct policy, and hopefully it will bring more of the GOP voters to the urns in 2008.
We don't want a Hillary presidency, do we?
(On the other hand we don't want a McCain, or.......(umpteenth names) presidency either.)
By this time, if republicans are so naive as to believe anything the drive-by media says just prior to an election, they deserve to lose. Republicans should vote no matter what they hear from the drive-bys.
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