Sounding like Bush’s team did a good job of mobilizing the latent evangelical vote as they’ve indicated.
Which scares me a bit, but then I like my politics and my religion, unlike my peanut butter and chocolate, to remain as thoroughly unmixed as possible.
All I can say is the lines for voting in my town were 3 times longer then the last 2 presidential elections. The question is who does the large turnout benefit. Wife and I threw our 2 cents in behind Kerry
I’ve been trying to find a case where it doesn’t benefit the challenger - but no luck so far (checking British, Japanese and US voting histories). So its probably really good for Kerry. All those extra voters are theorised to be mobilised out of anger - and that’s almost always towards the incumbent.
Of course this could be the exception. You never know, and that’s why today is so interesting.
I think it all got kicked off when this guy had some ideas about what might be a cool way to treat other people and got nailed to a tree for it, and then it just kinda mushroomed from there. ;)
(Or divine fiat, depending on how you interpret the whole bible thing. :p )
It really concerns me people vote based on abortion and issues like gay marriage and gun control when we have a war in Iraq and a shaky economy. It’s just not logical. Bah. Whatever. Makes me sick.
Pro Lifers like to parade pictures of beheaded fetus’ in rallys… its effective. As well, I think there is a subconscious belief that Bush is savior vs the Evil Muslim satan aramgedoon etc etc etc. Beats me… my sister married a reborn and they both now are rabid pro life Fox TV Limbaugh supporting weirdos… I CANNOT get any logical argument from them because abortion is the only issue they care about… and ironically they don’t care much about banning the death penalty (seems the guily arent forgiven). Considering the problems this country is facing with Iraq, jobs moving off shore, a shaky economy… moral issues are NOT what we should be worried about.
Yeah, if the youth turnout was below expectations, as Kos indicates it is, then many new voters were probably as Rove has hoped: evangelicals worked up into a lather over the damn homersekshulz (along with a bit of CindySue style anti-Islam paranoia).
Well, I guess we got what we deserved. Rapture, here we come!
AS much as I hate to add to the “Those damn zealots did it!!” fervor that is brewing here, the gay marriage ban was on the ballot in Ohio and passed. That certainly got some people out to vote that may not have otherwise.
I guess the Dems. could motivate obnoxious, idealistic youths back in the day, but lazy videogamers just won’t get their potato chip eating asses off the couch.
I honestly do not understand the culture war at all. I understand the framework people use to disgree with me on economics, but culture? Not at all.
Regardless of the outcome, I’m afraid the Democrats are just screwed until the Emerging Democratic Majority demographics turn up in a decade or so. And that’s assuming people don’t continue to flip R->D on abortion.
Funny that we can act like Islamic Fundamentalism is so barbaric (and it is), yet completely forget that we have the same damn set here at home. The only thing that separates Billy Joe Pentecostal from Abdul the Suicide Bomber is our great system of government – for NOW.
Well, they aren’t exactly knocking people off and taking hostages here. I am no fan of the religious fanaticism we have here, but I do not think I would trade theirs for ours.
No, is their a threat of them getting a theocracy? I also would not want radicals at the opposite end of the spectrum having their own government. I think our system, for better or worse, is working. The loonies on either side have their say. Some times one side shouts louder. SOme times one side has a larger turn out. I think the majority of the time the extremes wash each other out.
Now if you are claiming that the left extremists are not as dangerous as the right, I will have to respectfully disagree.