Vote Early, Vote Often
EmailThe polls here in Columbus, OH, opened at 6:30 am EST and at the precinct I visited — at a Greek Orthodox Church on High Street — turnout was solid. More than 100 voters within the first hour. Elections officials said that was unusual.
Surveys from GALLUP AND PEW RESEARCH indicate turnout today might be higher than normal for a midterm election.
In my hometown — the great city of Brotherly Love, Philadelphia — no longer can voters go to the local watering hole for a shot of Jack Daniels and democracy; NO MORE VOTING IN BARS.
What key races will you be watching tonight to get a sense of the national mood?
I think Rhode Island Senate — if Sen. Lincoln Chafee, R-RI, gets swept away by Democrat Sheldon Whitehouse, that will be a sure sign of a Democratic wave (about which I am not yet convinced, especially given the GOP’s superior Get-Out-the-Vote operation, enhanced by their microtargeting database.)
House races in Ohio and Indiana could be winning for Democrats, but those two states have internal GOP issues — a huge Republican scandal in Ohio, and GOP Gov. Mitch Daniels of Indiana taking some unpopular positions on Indiana issues such as the time zone and foreign control of a local toll road… And while Democrats look to do well in Connecticut and Pennsylvania House races outside Philly, that can also be seen as party of the Northeast re-alignment to Blue, as the South a decade ago went Red.
I think the key is to look at the New Mexico House race between Rep. Heather Wilson, R-NM, and Attorney General Patricia Madrid. Wilson is generally a stronger candidate on her merits; if Madrid wins that could be a real bellwhether.
More later –
jake
CPAC: Romney Struggles to Convince Voters 
Obama Backs Off Birth Control Battle?
let the fun begin…
Posted by: cordelia525 | November 7, 2006, 10:11 am 10:11 am
I think that one big story coming out of this election is going to be high youth voter turnout. There are huge youth voter mobilization campaigns going on right now across the country, and politicans ignore young voters at their own peril.
I work with the Student PIRGs’ New Voters Project, a non-partisan turnout effort targeted at young voters, and just from what I’ve heard about and seen on some of the campuses where we’re turning out the vote, there’s a huge buzz about this election and students are doing some really creative things to get their peers to the polls. For example, at UMass-Amherst, students are wearing an Uncle Sam costume and roaming the campus on stilts urging fellow students to cast their ballots.
But in addition to the wackiness, these same students will run all-day phone banks, canvass dormitories and student neighborhoods, and make presentations in lecture halls. They’ve already registered registered 75,000 new voters and will be making personalized 20,000 get out the vote reminders just today alone.
There’s a good piece about youth voting on the AP:
http://asap.ap.org/stories/995113.s
Posted by: James | November 7, 2006, 11:05 am 11:05 am
I think that’s spelled “bellwether” from the bell put on a castrated ram, a “wether”, who leads the flock this way and that. The shepherd can find the flock in mountain pastures by listening for the bell(s). If one put bells on each sheep, the shepherd would find strays and waste a lot of time before locating the flock. If one puts bells only on the wethers, or on one wether, the shepherd would find the flock more easily.
Posted by: dana b | November 7, 2006, 11:58 am 11:58 am
It was Chicago’s legendary alderman, Paddy O’Bauler, who gave us one of the most memorable political quotes ever: “Chicago ain’t ready for reform!” I wonder if the rest of the US is, and whether we’ll see any significant expressions of that sentiment today.
As for me, I’ll be keeping an eye on two local elections: the Melissa Bean and Dave McSweeney contest (McSweeney had his wife doing campaign ads, proudly proclaiming that “He’s been there for me, and I know he’ll be there for you.” Uh, excuse me, ma’am, but he’s MARRIED to you!); and the Tammy Duckworth (moderate Iraq war vet) and Peter Roskam (slightly more conservative than Tomás de Torquemada) fight for Henry Hyde’s congressional seat. I’ll also be looking at the “blow-out belt” early on to see what trends might be incipient. In any case, it should be a fun evening ahead!
Posted by: chuck | November 7, 2006, 12:11 pm 12:11 pm
Dana, many thanks for the history behind the word “bellwether.” I find it quite appropriate that the mention of a leader of a flock going this way and that is discussed on Election Day.
Posted by: chuck | November 7, 2006, 1:14 pm 1:14 pm
The problem with this country,if anyone cares.The Democrats and Republicans and all LYERS.We the People dont know what to believe anymore. Both Parties should tell the truth for once.All Incubants should be kicked out of office and put a Farmer, Teacher, Policeman,etc. No Lawyers can apply.Lets get back to Family Values and what made this great country.
I still believe in America, but I wonder if God Does!!!!!!
Posted by: Tony Smart | November 7, 2006, 9:15 pm 9:15 pm