Posted on 11/10/2006 9:51:00 AM PST by SmithL
California's Republican voters stayed home in droves on election day, as preliminary figures show voter turnout falling well below the state average in some of the most reliably GOP parts of the state.
Although the final totals won't be known for weeks, election day turnout in Fresno, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino and SanDiego counties, which all have Republican pluralities, ran as much as 10 percentage points below the state's 44 percent average turnout.
"The turnout in Republican counties was low compared to the turnout in counties where Democrats hold the edge,'' said Patrick Dorinson, a spokesman for the state Republican Party. "The conservative Republican base didn't show up.''
Without that anticipated flood of votes from places such as Orange County and the Inland Empire, Tuesday was a long night for most of the statewide Republican candidates not named Arnold Schwarzenegger.
"It came as a surprise,'' admitted Stan Devereaux, a spokesman for Republican state Sen. Tom McClintock, who lost the lieutenant governor's race to Democratic Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi. "We kept looking at the returns through the night and thought we had a chance, but when the returns (from Republican counties) came in, we didn't get the turnout we expected.''
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
I didn't stay home, but I still didn't get attached to the 'virtual' fence idea because I knew it was just a ruse to try and get last minute votes. But, don't worry, the PINO doesn't care which party controls congress, knowing that either way, his precious scamnesty would get signed.
You would think the majority of voters being against scamnesty would give the PINO a clue.
It's going to be much worse next time. But hey, its what the PINO wants.
They won't build it, that's why the REPUBLICAN CONGRESS changed the funding!
Last-minute bill changes funding for border fence
But shortly before recessing late Friday, the House and Senate gave the Bush administration leeway to distribute the money to a combination of projects -- not just the physical barrier along the southern border. The funds may also be spent on roads, technology and "tactical infrastructure" to support the Homeland Security Department's preferred option of a "virtual fence."
The loopholes leave the Bush administration with authority to decide where, when and how long a fence will be built, except for small stretches east of San Diego and in western Arizona. Homeland Security officials have proposed a fence half as long, lawmakers said.This case reflects political calculations by GOP strategists that voters do not mind the details, and that key players -- including the administration, local leaders and the Mexican government - oppose a fence-only approach, analysts said.
Unfortunately, the SAME amount as if the GOP had won.
As Mom used to say, "Republicans have forgotten how to govern!"
how much were the leaders paid?
how much went to consultants.
seems that the GOP leaders had bigger coffers which were used to pay themselves.
I saw NOTHING in FL.
True enough. I wonder just how MORE they will cave now that they really are the monrity.
Now, just because I said that, doesn't mean I'm disagreeing with the points you just made. I agree and think you are quite correct in your analysis!!!
However, I think he's gonna do like Bush and try to out-Demonicrat the Demonicrats with his up-coming Socialized Medicine play and un-like Bush, he'll get something for it. Bush got ZERO for his Medicare "Part D" (for drugs) play! Doolittle and Pombo, likewise!!! Nothing!!! Nada!!! Pigs in Space!!! (flying even!)
Great victory for Iran.
This is BS. I live in a Republican district in the Inland Empire, and there was a high turnout. Maybe there were more of us stuck with filling out provisional ballots than it seems, leading some to the erroneous conclusion that we didn't show up.
"The conservative Republican base didn't show up.''
Arnold is doing to the Calfornia GOP what Pataki did in New York, destroying it by telling them they might as well submit. The California GOP needs to dump Arnold, lose the executive office once and come back stronger afterwards; while its still in the Union.
By failing to keep their "sins" in front of the American public, in Nov. 2006 it looked like only one party was "corrupt," and I agree that there was way too much eating at the trough. But it should have been dealt with in primaries by the GOP.
Ca. Pubs are discouraged because even though I voted for Arnie, he is not , not the leader of the Ca. Pubs. It is a more conserv party and he is not. And I doubt if it will change much since Dems outnumber Pubs 2-1. Still, some moderate Pubs could be conservs and vice versa. It depends on whether Arnie and Tom Mc (though he lost) can somehow transform the entire party to be conservpragmatics. If that is a word and an ideology. It seems that will be the only way out for the Pubs. Even Orange Co. is almost even in Pub and Dem registration and that is the trend even in San Diego.
Nationwide, the problem was not GOP turnout. We got our voters out.
We lost the independents 3:2 and with them went the close elections. In particular, we lost the "security Moms" and Catholics, both mostly due to Iraq and corruption in localized districts.
LOL. We sure have some silly voters. They complain about the GOP all year long, sit out the election, and then will be complaining for the next two years about losing. Looks to me like they would've at least voted for some of the good guys.
That's what happens when you have a pro-homo, pro-gun-grabber, pro-Hollyweird, pro-abortion liberal posing as a Republican at the top of the ticket running against an even more liberal Democrat. Conservative Republicans stay home.
And what we got was a result of the stay at home voters. So quit complaining already.
If they didn't show up at the polls then how could they be voters?
Drive by media at its best.
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