IMO the Democrats are going to show up

[Mr Dixon]

Come November the Democrats are going to show up in masses, with all the nonsense over the past 3 years we Democrats are ready to make our voices heard and votes counted. 2008 was about change, 2012 will be about continued change, equality, recovery, fairness and most of all telling the GOP, lobbyist and Tea Party to suck it. The democratic Giant is awake and ready to go,” We shall not be moved”

I’m ready to bleed Blue for my country, What say you?

[Jackpine Radical]

1. I think you're right.

[dhill926]

2. agreed..............n/t

[MineralMan]

3. A strong, local GOTV effort will get even more of them out.

Sell the importance of local legislative and congressional elections in that GOTV effort, and watch the Democrats turn out. That's the plan that will get it done.

[Jackpine Radical]

4. I wonder if we can come up with some plan

to get voters in Wisconsin interested.

[MineralMan]

7. LOL!

I'm guessing WI turnout will be humongous. I hope it's contagious here in MN.

[nevergiveup]

5. A year ago I did not see it but that is all changing.

The clowns from the other side have "woken a sleeping giant". I think the Democrats are going to turn out in huge numbers.

[WingDinger]

6. Wrote a song about it, and it goes like this.

http://journals.democraticunderground.com/WingDinger/40

[zipplewrath]

8. Dems won't decide this

Of course neither will the GOP. They are a small minority. It's the independents that will decide it. They'll either show up and be the margin of victory, or they'll stay home and hand it to the democrats. If the economy continues to improve, especially if unemployment drops below 8% by June, they'll probably either stay home or vote democratic. If anything reverses the recent gains, they'll probably show up and vote GOP.

[demosincebirth]

9. I see your point, but there are more registsered democrats in the U.S. than republicans. So, if...

[zipplewrath]

12. Yup

Dems win when the independents stay home. They also win when they vote with dems. They lose when the vote with the GOP in large numbers. The GOP is such a small minority, they need ALOT of independents to win. But at the end of the day, it is the independents that decide things, either by not showing up, or siding in large numbers with the GOP.

[renie408]

10. Or they show up and the margin of victory for Democrats will be even larger.

[zipplewrath]

13. Sorta kinda

It is true that independents can vote with the dems and make their margins larger. Truth is, if the independents split, the dems tend to win. The dems lose when the independents don't show up, or when they vote GOP in large numbers.

[renie408]

16. I get conventional wisdom, but in THIS particular GE...

I think you have to take into consideration the candidates running, too. I am not really sure how the GOP is going to sell Mitt Romney over Barack Obama and that's not just because I am a Democrat. I live among them. I work with them. They are all around me and they aren't real happy this time around. Maybe they are waiting to see how the primary shakes out, but NONE of the Republicans I know have any enthusiasm for this campaign season. They may still dislike Obama, but that just isn't enough to take back the White House. And if the actual party members are having a hard time getting fired up, how are they going to get independents worked up enough to vote for them?

[zipplewrath]

18. That's sorta the point

Independents will decide the race. They may decide it by being so frustrated with the GOP that they just flat out throw up their hands and don't vote at all. They may decide to vote with the dems. The only way the GOP wins is if the independents show up and vote for the GOP. As you suggest, if the GOP is having trouble with their own voters, that doesn't bode well for their hopes for independent votes.

The reason that Romney is considered the biggest risk for Obama isn't because he is so popular with the "base" or the conservatives. Quite the opposite, he was seen as the best chance to peel off independents and the base would just have to "come along". That's changing right now because of the mess the GOP is making of their primary. It could be "repaired" by summer though. The dems best chance, even with Romney, is a good economic "summer". The independents tend to stay with a "winner", especially when they see their own situation improving. For them, it's a referendum on the incumbent. And as you suggest, even if it's no a great summer, they may have a permanent memory of the GOP from this spring that doesn't go away, and they basically just stay home.

But in the end the entire discussion is about independents, unless someone wants to truly talk about the left staying away. I don't see that happening at all.

[Pab Sungenis]

11. I hope you're right.

But we can't count on fear alone to drive our people to the polls. We need an aggressive campaign pushing the real accomplishments of the President (not the puffery "lists" so many are fond of) and bemoaning Republican obstructionism. We need far more aggressive policies being pushed by the White House to help bolster our base.

[arthritisR_US]

14. That is my deepest hope. n/t

[HillWilliam]

15. One need only ask

"Is the pain from an obstructive repug Congress real enough for ya yet?" or "How's that teabaggery workin' out for ya?"

To go forward, put it in "D". To go backward, put it in "R"...

[Mr Dixon]

17. Agreed

Well said

[kctim]

19. Yes they are

but more importantly, the indies are going to really show up and vote Democratic.