Record Number of PA Democrats Registered

[NYDem Observer]

Something tells me the increased democratic voter registration has a lot more to do with Obama than Clinton. :thumbsup:
PA might be a lot closer than Clinton supporters think.


Updated | 6:35 p.m. PHILADELPHIA — Democratic voter registration in Pennsylvania has hit a record of more than 4 million voters.
“It’s kind of incredible,” Harry A. VanSickle, the state’s elections commissioner, tells The Caucus as his office prepares to post the new numbers. “It’s the first time we know of that a party in Pennsylvania has gone over 4 million.”
A total of 4,044,952 people are now registered to vote in the Democratic primary; a total of 3,215,478 are registered for the Republican primary.
The deadline for registering for the April 22 primary is today, and volunteers for both Senator Barack Obama and Senator Hillary Clinton are still out on the streets here trolling for last-minute registrants. The final official numbers will be tallied later.

Mr. VanSickle said he has told elections officials in the state’s 67 counties to prepare for a massive turnout on primary day. “We’ve told them, whatever you’re expecting, increase it by 30 or 40 percent,” he said.
More than 120,000 new voters joined the rolls since Jan. 1. In addition, more than 86,000 others switched from other parties to register as Democrats, while only 12,000 switched registration to become Republicans.
Some of the biggest numbers of those who switched to become Democrats were recorded in the Republican suburbs of Philadelphia, which are likely to be an important battleground in the primary. Analysts say suburbanites who registered Democratic are probably either opponents of the war in Iraq who want to vote for Senator Barack Obama or professional women who want to support Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton.
Also, in a sign that Mr. Obama, who is behind in the polls here, is going to contest the state vigorously, his campaign announced today that he would tour the state by bus, just like in Iowa. His tour is to start Friday in Western Pennsylvania and work its way east by Wednesday. The Clinton camp has also been planning a bus tour here but has not announced its plans yet.

http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/03/24/record-number-of-pa-democrats-registered/

[billbuckhead]

1. Bring the souless empty suit on

Maybe he can explain why he didn't see his mother before she died. Probably will blame racism.

[NYDem Observer]

2. As deplorable as that comment was I'm not taking the bait

It would be nice if Hillary supporters could at least stay on topic.

[CreekDog]

3. i thought he spent time with her while she was dying

:shrug:

[galaxy21]

8. so far....Obama hates his mom and left he to die alone, has left his paternal grandmother to starve

in a hut in Kenya..

Thrown his maternal grandmother under a bus in a major speech.

Did I miss something? Has he kicked a puppy lately?

[NYDem Observer]

9. Ask most Clinton supporters

And they'll tell you its only a metter of time.

[BeyondGeography]

13. Bunnies

He's cruel to bunnies.

[aasleka]

7. Oh wtf

[writes3000]

10. Sometimes, that which we accuse others of....is reflective of ourselves.

Using someone's mother's death as a campaign weapon is pretty awful. Some would say soulless, in fact.

[Cha]

24. I have it on ignore but I

would say it's fucking nuts..a wild guess.

[MH1]

15. Wow. Talk about irrational hatred.

Here's the answer to that thread.

[RBInMaine]

22. Your call sign should be "bill the bucket head."

[walldude]

23. Good thing it's the Obama supporters that use

disgusting asinine tactics, this way you can keep posting this drivel while blaming Obama supporters for splitting the party.

[thevoiceofreason]

26. Hey Bill. In the spirit of detente flowing here -- fuck you.

[Coexist]

4. SEIU is breaking out their ground game in PA:

http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2008/03/24/801630.aspx#comments

There are more than 75,000 SEIU members in the Keystone State, and the union is setting up eight sites across Pennsylvania. The focus has been on registration through Monday, the deadline for residents to register to vote or change their party affiliation. The next step will be educating members.

While SEIU aired ads for Obama, shortly after announcing their national endorsement, before the Ohio primary, they are not planning to go on television or radio in Pennsylvania at this time. “But that could change,” Burger said.

“We think the candidates are spending so much on the air, it's more important for us to be on the door and on the ground,” she said.

After a compressed primary schedule earlier this year, union officials said the extra time has allowed them to ensure their membership rolls are up to date and to better organize themselves in the field, which lessened the need for media buys. Burger said members have been spontaneously reaching out to union officials, interested in the race and getting involved.

When asked if Obama could win the union vote in Pennsylvania, with polls showing Clinton at a 15-point advantage, Burger said she thought “we can narrow the gap.”

[JimGinPA]

5. I Don't Think Mrs. Clinton Really Has Any Volunteers Doing Any Registrations...

On the other hand...


:woohoo:

[Scurrilous]

6. K & R

:thumbsup:

[jedr]

11. I wouldn't take this as and endorsement / win for HRC;

Although Gov. Rendell and the Democratic machine has overwhelmingly endorsed HRC, Rendell is not well liked even by Democrats in this state. There is no sure thing for either of them here.

[Red Zelda]

12. We're coming to send the soulless witch to her end

and she can take Rendell with her.

GO-Bama!

[billbuckhead]

18. More actual sexism from the "postracial" crew

Sad.

[Orsino]

21. Funny. The "soulless witch" votes like the other guy.

A lot like him.

[TheDoorbellRang]

14. The PA dem primary in 2004 had 789,882 voters

Just for comparison, here's how much larger the turnout was in some of the primary races since later February:

State...2004.......2008.....increased
MD.....615,188.....846,876.....x1.38
VA.....396,181.....977,586.....x2.47
WI.....826,250...1,100,805.....x1.33
VT......82,881.....151,380.....x1.83
RI......35,759.....183,865.....x5.14
TX.....839,231...2,818,599.....x3.36
OH...1,239,446...2,194,851.....x1.77
MS......76,298.....411,495.....x5.39

(Stats from TheGreenPapers for 2004 and from CNN for 2008)

The only closed primary in the above states was in Maryland. Pennsylvania's primary is also closed.

So what do you all think the turnout will be in Pennsylvania?

[WinkyDink]

16. "more than 86,000 others switched from other parties to register as Democrats"~~~FOR A DAY.

[BumRushDaShow]

19. Nope.

As I noted in my later post, a bunch hate Bush (some of these folks were libertarian-leaning) and a number have been out of work for some time. These folks were forsaken by their own party, which decided to put the neocon agenda front and center in Busco's 2nd term and let the rest of their "big tent" (fiscal conservatives, fundies, libertarians, natural law followers, Reagan Democrats-registered-repuke, isolationalists, pro-life, gun lobby, etc) go.

[WinkyDink]

25. Maybe so. But didn't the Obama campaign give out info as to switch and switch-again?

[BumRushDaShow]

17. I am near one of the Philadelphia rim counties and a bunch of the repukes that I know there

hate Bush with a passion... Which is what they cited as their reason for switching to Dem and supporting Obama. It might be interesting to see how this all pans out.

[Orsino]

20. We'll see.

There will be no shortage of idiots telling us what the number mean in the coming weeks. And afterward.

I imagine that he'll close the gap somewhat, cutting into her presumed lead.