why did the Dem base stay home?

[pstokely]

?

[even]

1. Tantrums are...

better than winning. We will argue Our differences in the camps.

[imhotep]

2. probably

because they are tired of being taken for granted.

[ikojo]

3. AMEN! For too long the Democratic

party has moved to the right, in a vain attempt at imitating Republicans, and assumed that their base had nowhere to go. Well listen up...people who are taken for granted eventually get tired of it and stay away. The DLC has made it clear that they wish to distance the Dems from their base of union voters, minorities and women so hey maybe that same base said "fuggedabout, I'm staying home." If you don't want me at your party the rest of the year then why should I come to the dance?

[Cheswick2.0]

7. Great more Naderditto

The problem is not the party, it is the media. The party is no more right or left than it has ever been. Please get a new talking point, that one didn't makes sense in 2000 and it still doesn't.

You want to know what the problem is, annalyze the media participation. When did the media spend anytime on the issues? It isn't that democrats were not willing or able to talk about the real issues, the media wouldn't cover anything but the scandals and the bullshit. It wasn't Davis who paraded those in front of the country, it was the media. Then they addressed it as a dirty trick by the democrats.

Stop bitching about the "party" and start addressing the real problems. Or go start a disaffectedthirdpartyUnderground.com and please take the libertarians with you.

[Classical_Liberal]

11. Not everyone who feels that way is a naderite or a Libertarian

Davis used the scandals in his ads. He didn't talk enron, and you well know that for the past three days scandal has been your lifes blood. The media didn't force you to focus on that.

[Cheswick2.0]

5. can't we have one discussion without the Naderditto bullshit?

The swing vote was clearly in the middle in this election. If people stayed home it was because they are constantly told by disaffected third party people that they have no real choices and nothing they do makes a difference. Don't you know how distructive your cynical rap is?

Now this is where you tell me you are a democrat right?

[imhotep]

6. lol

now its Nader's fault?

[Cheswick2.0]

8. did I say that or do you have a reading problem?

Same old same old bullshit. "Now it's Nader's fault"? You guys have been repeating his bullshit for years, that's not his fault it is yours. You are a bore, you add nothing to the discussion. You repeat his idiocy just like the freepers repeat Rush. At least have the sense to get a new line or two.

[Classical_Liberal]

12. If Davis and Clark listened to you and took a piss on

everyone critical of the Dems they wouldn't be raking in the money.

[Raine]

4. Lots of Democrats

just don't like Davis and I don't think they saw how dangerous and stupid letting arnie win could be. The Democratic party along with the media didn't take the gropinator candadacy serously enough.

[FauxNewsBlues]

10. I loathe Gray Davis

I voted against the recall, but...

The man frankly sucks. He is the most cynical, corrupt democratic politician I have ever had to vote for in my life here in California.

It's one thing to be charming and corrupted, like a Long in Louisiana, Gray Davis is boring and corrupted, a lethal combination.

He hit up my union for one million dollars for the recall. When they said no, he slashed our state funding. The prison guards gave him a big donation, and he gave them a 7% pay raise, in a tough fiscal climate. He is cynically "tough on crime", over ruling his parole board, even when the facts are demonstrable that an innocent person has been sent to prison. He sold out the environment for campaign contributions. He let the energy companies roll him like a rube. I don't like the man. He tried to beat Dianne Feinstein in the dem senate primary years ago by saying she was Leona Helmsley.

I at least voted against the recall and for Bustamonte, but I am sure others like me just stayed home. Davis really is that unpopular here. There is a reason his popularity is in the 20's. Half of democrats can't stand the man either. If he had any decency, he would have resigned right before the recall was certified, but when it was obviously going to happen. Cruz Bustamonte would have been governor, and the statehouse would have been in democratic hands. His poll numbers were already in the 20's by the time the recall was announced. The writing was on the wall. He wouldn't take one for the team though.

[Le Taz Hot]

16. Excellent analysis

and right on. I've not seen the numbers as there are no official numbers out yet but several things happened. Davis was unpopular among Democrats, several unions went Bustamante and "yes" on recall, many Bustamante supporters voted "yes" on the recall (I knew this was going to happen -- it was the buzz at Bustamante headquarters), non-stop free press for Arnie, Davis is lackluster, the results were called (even on THIS board) hours before the polls were closed, discouring people who may have voted "no" on the recall from voting (yes, people are lazy) far less polling places, and too many brain dead people who wanted a movie star for governor.

The base party activists were there, but we couldn't get the base rank-and-file to go vote. They were disgusted by the whole circus and were unenthusiastic about Davis. They showed their disdain by not voting. I know. I was on the phone all day yesterday and, just like 2002, that's what I heard, over and over again.

[Piperay]

22. Truthfully I can't

stand him either, he was the biggest disappointment of anyone I ever voted into office. I voted NO on the recall anyway but I literally had to hold my nose. :-(

[marley]

9. Maybe

We should re-phrase the question: why did the repugs go out and vote ? The dems need to do a beter job at mobilizing their voters, otherwise come 04 we could face another 4 years Bush and co.

[Blitz]

13. Hint: The Dem "base" DIDN'T stay home

The Dem "base" came out en masse for this election. In San Francisco, ground zero for the "base," the recall was a loser by 80% to 20%. The difference is that everybody voted in this election. It was perhaps the most representative election in California history (which is also why a second recall will be nearly impossible; MANY more petition signatures would be required). And do you know what we learned in the most representative election in California history? We learned that the so-called "base" is a tiny minority of a generally moderate voting populace and that a campaign based upon an appeal to the "base" will get you elected in San Francisco or Alameda county but will leave a you on the unemployment line after a state-wide election.

The "base" is a lot of noise but its members still only vote once and, in an election in which everybody else votes, the "base" just doesn't matter as much as some people would like to think it does.

Edited for typo.

[unfrigginreal]

14. Don't let facts get in the way of your theory.

You say that everybody voted in this election, well then why are the numbers with 96% of the precincts reporting only showing 7.5Mil voting on the recall question. In 2000, the election drew over 10.5Mil votes.

Take a look at the exit polls and then tell us that the base turned out to vote.

Thanks for the headsup on how the DLC will try to play this though.

[Blitz]

18. The 2000 election

was for President. Compare the numbers between this election and the 2002 election for Governor if you want to compare apples to apples. Only about 6.8 million voted in that election. We still don't know what the final numbers will be for this one (have the absentee and provisional ballots been counted yet?). It may well turn out that the final numbers approach or exceed the 2000 total.

But, by all means, continue pandering to the so-called base. Dennis Miller needs a new gig.

[StrongBad]

15. Interesting analysis.

I never thought of it in that manner. If what you're saying is true, we should take it seriously.

[birdman]

17. Davis LOST the base - it didn't stay home

Hell, 25 to 30% of liberals voted for the recall.

His support among union members and Hispanics dropped
considerably.

Almost 20% of Dems voted for the groper.

You don't win by rallying the base but you always lose
if you alienate it.

http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/recall/la-me-exit8oct08,1,1435120.story?coll=la-home-headlines

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

20. Union members are not liberal except on union issues

Actually, LIBERALS such as gay people and women voted for Davis. I have been on the phone with union members for two months.

They are NOT liberals. How many flaming liberal cops do you know?

[Blitz]

23. Actually

Exit polling indicates that women voted for the recall, 51% to 49%:

http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2003/recall/pages/epolls/special.election.html

Moreover, women preferred Schwarzegger to any other replacement candidate:

http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2003/recall/pages/epolls/governor.html

43% of women voted for Schwarzenneger, compared to only 36% for Bustamante. Overall, 57% of women voted for either Schwarzenegger or McClintock.

In other words, if ONLY the female vote was counted, Davis would still have been recalled and Arnold would still have been elected governor by a very wide margin.

[Blitz]

21. Well, that would depend on your definition of "base"

Self-identified liberals and what DU generally considers the "base" are two different things. Remember, as far as most of the world is concerned, Schwarzenegger is a liberal and it is only natural that liberals would vote for him.

Davis got the base. He lost everyone else.

[E Pluribus Unum]

19. The Dem base did not stay home. They voted for Arnold.

[CMT]

24. Significant minorities of "the base" supported this recall

over 20% of African-Americans, over 40% of Latinos, over 40% of Union members, over 20% of self-professed liberals, over 50% of women voted to recall Gray Davis.

He had to do much better than that to win this.

But this is what happens when we have a candidate who is uninspiring. I wanted more than anything Gray Davis to win, but frankly, he was the Joe Lieberman of candidates-dull, dull, dull.