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Posted on 02/08/2012 12:04:30 PM PST by red flanker
Beneath Rick Santorum's stunning three-state sweep on Tuesday stands another stubborn sign of dissatisfaction with the status quo: Republican turnout is down.
I'm talking embarrassingly, disturbingly, hey-don't-you-know-it's-an-election-year bad. It is a sign of a serious enthusiasm gap among the rank and file, and a particularly bad omen for Mitt Romney and the GOP in the general election.
Here's the tale of the tape, state by state, beginning with Tuesday night: Minnesota had just more than 47,000 people turn out for its caucuses this year -- four years ago it was nearly 63,000 -- and Romney came in first, not a distant third as he did Tuesday night. In Colorado, more than 70,000 people turned out for its caucus in 2008 -- but in 2012 it was 65,000. And Missouri -- even making a generous discount for the fact that this was an entirely symbolic contest -- had 232,000 people turn out, less than half the number who did four years ago.
(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...
Or it may simply be that many Republicans don't care who ends up being the nominee, as long as he wins.
Some people told me they did not bother to vote in Tuesday’s election because it was meaningless since the delegates would not be bound.
The GOP pantry needs restocking.
“Negative campaigns breed negative sentiment leading to negative turnout leading to a LOSS.”
The campaign had moments of enthusiasm and then Newt took charge in the debates and produced real enthusiasm with Conservatives and Tea Party members and he jumped into a lead in Iowa and nationally. The people had been waiting for someone to attack obama, stand up to the media and offer real and sensible Conservative solutions to the problems we face as a nation. He inspired and generated hope and enthusiasm. It had all the appeareance of a grassroots movement in the making. So what happened, the Romney and Paul campaigns and the Romney RINO supporters and the MSM including Fox resorted to campaign against Newt that not only extremely negative and distorted facts but also outright lied, over three weeks continued this bombardment. Romney again lied and said he couldn’t even publicly ask his PAC to quit running negative ads or correct falsehoods, none of the media took Romney to task. Finally Newt had to either quit or retaliate. He retaliated with negativity but told the truth. He is now attacked for defending himself for going negative and is accused of attacking capitalism, when in fact he was attacking legal but ethically challenged practices, much as if Larry Flint were to be challenged on his ethics if he were to be running for president and his defense would be freedom of the press and what I do is legal. The Romney campaign said the ad from Newt’s PAC was inaccurate, Newt publically called for it to be corrected or pulled. The last I heard that the Pac had contacted the Romney campaign and had asked five questions regarding Romney’s involvement with Bain on certain dates and if that information showed Romney was not in a management position at the time of these allegations they would correct or pull the ad. The latest information that i have is that the PAC still has not had a reply from the Romney campaign. Of course we know what happened after that in South Carolina and Florida.
More to the point the Romney campaign with help from the Paul campaign, the MSM, the GOP-E RINOS, the Pundits have intervened in our nomination process and have destroyed enthusiasm and trust. Most of them don’t have the balls to attack obama but now stand and try to tell us that if obama gets re-elected it’s Newt’s fault and the fault of Conservatives who didn’t line up and bend over Romney. We all know that the Republican nominee whoever it is will have the full support of the MSM.
If Obama is counting on a tossup in Pennsylvania he is in trouble, as he is not popular anyplace around here that I can see.
GOP primary turnout is so low because we are getting tantalizingly close to the point where true Conservatives choose to go off and form their own party and kick the GOP to the curb.
The only hope is that Obama is so reviled by those who are inclined to vote for him that they end up more apathetic than those who will vote against him. Consider the turnout for Republicans in 2008 and those who voted for McCain versus those who voted for Obama.
Obama may not be well liked, but that does not necessarily translate into motivation to get out and vote against him. What will most likely happen is apathy will take hold on both sides.
I hope I'm wrong.
I dearly hope Romeny is not the GOP candidate.
I spoke with a college friend who is a lobbyist in DC and asked him if anyone was talking about Alan Mulally as a white knight. He shocked me by saying that was a minor buzz in town.
Alan Mulally is the best CEO in America
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Mulally
From the DC Elite RinoCracy...this is the main problem...
“S&P Threatens US With Another Downgrade In As Little As 6 Months”
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2844046/posts
The RinoCracy...in DC ..which sees all through the racial lens...thinks changing the skin color of the White House occupant is all that is needed to improve the US Credit Score.
In order for that to happen ..they have to find a candidate conservative enough to con the right out to the voting booths...but not “too Constitutional” to change the DC status quo for the hogs at the trough.
Basically an impossible situtation.
Anybody capable of getting the Right out in sufficient numbers to change the White House Occupant..is going to be so Constitutional that DC will be terrified. Which is why Palin and Cain were run out of the campaign at the start.
interestingly, after I posted my thoughts, someone posted a transcript of Rush saying basically the same thing. That made me feel like I wasn’t just whistling Dixie.
It may well be that the GOP has no chance against obama. That is obviously what the GOP establishment believes (and perhaps wants). They might be right.
I hope not, though.
There's one tiny flaw in your logic as I see it. Why didn't they turn out for him in all the other states?
Maybe many looked at the political and economic landscape and figured the outcome of 2012 is a done, rigged deal.
Instead, they are doing more local things - like taking inventory of their brass and beans, oiling their guns, standing on their front stoop gazing in either direction,... and asking themselves, "Is it time yet, Claire?"!
You’re probably right! This is all the fault of our wondrous GOP that keeps deciding upon who should win the nomination (and of course the folks for voting for them).
We have nothing to vote for but a heck of a lot to vote against. That alone may not be enough to provide the turnout needed to prevent the destruction of the country as we use to know it.
Thank you, GOP and all of you inside the Beltway pundits!
I think it is the adage expressed in the debates, that anyone of them is better than DimBO. While the candidate I would like didn’t get into the race, I will vote on 6 November for the Republican, including the dead squirrel.
Yikes ... Newt is not electable, which is why he has trouble winning primaries. Palin is not only not electable, she is not nominatable.
Go with Rick Santorum or Mitt Romney. Pick one.
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