Drawn Out Good News

The longer the Democratic primary battle is drawn out, the less time the Smear boaters have to figure out the presumptive, and the more time the party has to engage new voters:

Figures released by Pennsylvania's Department of State on Monday night showed that Democrats have topped 4 million registered voters, the first time either party in the state has crossed that threshold. Democrats have added 161,000 to their rolls, a gain of about 4 percent; Republican registration has dipped about 1 percent, to 3.2 million.

That is consistent with the pattern since the beginning of the year: Democratic turnout in primaries and caucuses has topped Republican turnout, often by huge differences.

In Ohio, 2.2 million voters participated in the Democratic primary, compared with 1.1 million in the Republican primary. In Texas, 2.9 million voters turned out for the Democratic primary and 1.4 million for the GOP primary. Even in Florida, where the Republican primary was one of the most hotly contested of the year and the Democratic primary featured no active campaigning by the candidates, GOP turnout was only marginally higher: 1.9 million vs. 1.7 million.

These turnout figures match what pollsters have found as they have surveyed the electorate throughout the year: The gap between Democratic and Republican identification has grown dramatically.

Listen, people aren't happy, and this comes at no shock to those of use who actually care about the future. There are those on the Right who are greasing the wheels on the goal posts to re-write expectations. The electorate won't fall for that.

Both the Democratic candidates are light years better than the presumptive ideological dancer the Republicans will put up. If he picks a right wing purist as his running mate, the base may be able to rally behind him, if he chooses another plum, it will be all but over.

Flash