The Republican Party’s 50-State Solution

[applegrove]

The Republican Party’s 50-State Solution

by Thomas B. Edsall at the NY Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/13/opinion/campaign-stops/the-republican-partys-50-state-solution.html?ref=opinion&_r=0

"SNIP.............


“What’s changed seems to be the result of the relatively recent nationalization of state campaign financing,” Morgan Kousser, a professor of history at Caltech (and, as it happens, Thad Kousser’s father), wrote in an email:


The Koch brothers understand the importance of controlling state legislatures; George Soros doesn’t. I’m not sure why this should be the case, but since we’re really talking about a relatively small number of mega-donors who have caused this, it’s a rather restricted question.

Liberal foundations, in the view of Lee Drutman, a senior fellow at the New America foundation,


have for a long time got perpetually distracted by fads and short-term metrics, whereas conservative foundations were willing to invest much more in long-term organizational capacity.



...............SNIP"

[Agnosticsherbet]

1. The failure to undrestand the importance of state legislatures may be a feature of the Democratic

Party electorate.

Democrats come out in big numbers every four years for President. They fail to vote in the same numbers in most non Presidential years, which is why Republicans control the US House and Senate.

I haven't seen any data on their voting patterns in state elections. I suspect they will mirror patterns in the national elections.

[GoneOffShore]

2. Some of us vote in every election going but it's difficult to GOTV in non Presidential years.

[Agnosticsherbet]

3. I vote in every election, but in non-presidential years and speical elections...

the drop off is huge.

Republican numbers also drop off, but not nearly as much.

It frustrates me.

[GoneOffShore]

4. Frustrates me as well.

You're preaching to the choir.