[chicagomom]

First, never assume a defeat. Republican voter turnout is always lower than Democratic when the weather is bad. If the Repubs think things are going well, that there will be a landslide, some won't bother to vote. The Repubs may think W has things all wrapped up now because of the Iraqi handover and the good economic numbers, and this may cause some to not bother to vote as well. As Woody Allen said, 95% of life is just showing up.

Your vote is still important because if you don't vote the elected officials can just assume they have the state's 'mandate.' Opposition votes can, and do, sometimes sway legislators into more moderate positions than they would have taken had they gotten a 'landslide'.

Same thing with letters to your representative. It's important they know they are not representing you.

When the party politics of a state changes, I see the minority party regrouping to try to gather more grassroots support, to try to improve their communication apparatus, to try to get more people involved in politics at the county levels.

 

[chicagomom]

What do you think would help?

- 25% of eligible voters remain unregistered on a typical year. You can drive up voter tunout if you register more people.

- I think an election day holiday would be a *great* and easy way to boost voter turnout. It'd be hard for people to forget, easier to get to the polls (esp lower income people). But it seems we can never get it past Congress.

Oddly enough, the fewer people turn out to vote, the more likely it is the Republican candidate will win. So, vote!