Democratic voter registration overtakes Republicans in San Diego County!

[AnAnonymousDemocrat]

From: http://weblog.signonsandiego.com/news/breaking/2008/11/democrats_take_voter_lead_in_c.html

Democrats take voter lead in county

For the first time in 24 years, there are more Democrats than Republicans among registered voters in San Diego County.

The change appeared increasingly inevitable in the final weeks before Tuesday's election as Democrats increased their ranks at a 2-to-1 rate over Republicans.

The Democrats have 547,148 registered voters, or 36.3 percent, to top Republicans with 543,856, or 36.1 percent, according to the final registration numbers from the county Registrar of Voters. The final tally wasn't completed until late Sunday because of a backlog in inputting new voters.

The 3,292-voter edge for Democrats is the first since 1984, when Republicans wrested control away from them. Before that, Democrats had led in voter registration for 34 of the previous 37 years.

The shift comes after a dramatic increase in Democrats, with the party gaining more than 111,000 voters countywide since December. By comparison, Republicans grew by about 48,000 voters during the same period.

The unpopularity of President George W. Bush and a worsening economy coupled with enthusiasm for Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama have been cited as reason for the dramatic turnaround.

[pinto]

1. Most excellent turn of the tide.

:kick:

[slackmaster]

2. Unless our party gets its shit together, this will be a temporary and shallow victory

Statewide, the Democratic Party has seen a small rise since it hit bottom in October 2004. Other than that, we have been losing members for several elections.

We should all be asking ourselves what we are doing wrong, that has led to the highest percentage of Declined To State voters ever.

How can the Democratic Party claim to be representing the true will of the people when statewide registration stands at 23.11% in San Diego County and 44.4% statewide? Most of those DTS voters came from one of the major parties. The underlying reason is why I support Proposition 11.

[cascadiance]

3. Protectionist rediscricting IS a problem, but one that prop 11 WON'T SOLVE!

With the potential for the "independent" members of redistricting boards to lean towards the right and towards Republicns, it might actually give a majority to Republican sympathizers even though the Republicans are a minority in this state. The Republicans will do what they did in Texas to California if this passes.

[slackmaster]

4. Let's check back in two years and see what has happened to voter registration stats

:hi:

[cascadiance]

5. Fortunately, I'll have Dems representing me in Oregon...

I'm leaving California next week.

I tried to vote my last votes in California according to my conscience, but it will be up to you all to make it work and continue to build the Dem's strength. I'm not a party "partisan" by any means without questioning the party's agenda for progressive values and allowing them any means to retain their power, but I don't think the problem is solved by giving Republicans more power than they deserve.

[slackmaster]

6. Since I grew up in a mixed household, I think I have an advantage of perspective

I don't think giving Democrats more power than they deserve (as the present system does moreso than it does the GOP) is the proper way to run the state either.

[cascadiance]

7. Ideally it should be a non-partisan group or some program, etc. that runs with agreed upon rules...

I think that some states like Iowa have a computer program figure out the districting by population groups and geographic proximity, etc., and does it in such a way that hopefully is even handed, and is using a set of rules that both parties can agree on.

But definitely the Republicans shouldn't be allowed to get more power over the Dems when they represent less of the population, which with this proposition where we really don't know the affiliations of the independent reps, they could be even more powerful than Dems at deciding our district lines.