Voter Turnout Same as in '04

As I sat with a group of people (all Obama supporters for the most part) on the night of the election I mentioned how, despite increases in registration, there was no rise in actually voting participation. The Obamatons couldn't believe this. "No" they said, "that can't be true. Lots of people (read blacks) are voting this year that have never voted before."

Well turns out I was right, but so where the Sheeple...to an extent. According to reports, turnout was the same as in '04, but more Democrats made it to the polls than did Republicans. Big surprise there, eh? With Acorn's shenanigans going around registering everybody under the sun (to include plenty of fake people), more Dems were registered this year, and at least a small percentage of those registrees actually did manage to cast a ballot.

Here is the story:

The report released Thursday estimates that between 126.5 and 128.5 million Americans cast ballots in the presidential election earlier this week. Those figures represent 60.7 percent or, at most, 61.7 percent of those eligible to vote in the country.

“A downturn in the number and percentage of Republican voters going to the polls seemed to be the primary explanation for the lower than predicted turnout,” the report said. Compared to 2004, Republican turnout declined by 1.3 percentage points to 28.7 percent, while Democratic turnout increased by 2.6 points from 28.7 percent in 2004 to 31.3 percent in 2008.

“Many people were fooled (including this student of politics although less so than many others) by this year’s increase in registration (more than 10 million added to the rolls), citizens’ willingness to stand for hours even in inclement weather to vote early, the likely rise in youth and African American voting, and the extensive grassroots organizing network of the Obama campaign into believing that turnout would be substantially higher than in 2004,” Curtis Gans, the center’s director, said in the report. “But we failed to realize that the registration increase was driven by Democratic and independent registration and that the long lines at the polls were mostly populated by Democrats.”

Some experts also note that national turnout trends may mask higher turnout in swing states with more intensive attempts by both campaigns to get their supporters to the polls. Several large states, including California and New York, had no statewide races and virtually no advertising or get-out-the-vote efforts by either presidential campaign.

According to the report, several Southern states — North Carolina, Georgia, South Carolina, Alabama, Virginia, and Mississippi — and the District of Columbia saw the greatest increases in voter turnout.

Overall turnout was highest in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Missouri, Michigan, South Dakota and North Carolina, according to the report.

In 2004, 122 million Americans voted in the general election.

Did you read that? Southern states saw the greatest increases in voter turn out....I would wager because of Blacks, but it still didn't matter. Only Virginia went for Obama, and the counties that pushed him to a win were the predominately white suburbs of DC. So what does all this mean? Everything....and nothing.