Democrats bank on early voting to bridge enthusiasm gap

[onehandle]

Source: Washington Post

LAS VEGAS - Walter Grimsley woke up Saturday morning and remembered he had an errand to run. He had to go vote. The government retiree's phone had been ringing every few hours with reminder calls from Democratic volunteers. Canvassing teams appeared at his door at least 10 times. At a voting booth set up next to the produce section of his neighborhood grocery store, Grimsley cast his ballot for Sen. Harry M. Reid and the rest of the Democratic ticket, just as he had always intended.

The way the Democrats see it, it is worth all of the effort to lock in surefire voters like Grimsley as early as possible. He is one more supporter they don't have to worry about pushing to the polls Nov. 2. That frees up party operatives to badger reluctant voters who need even more coaxing and who are crucial to saving Reid and other imperiled Democrats in the House and Senate.

There's something in it for Grimsley, too. "Now the phone calls will stop," he said.

Democrats across the country know they face a daunting enthusiasm gap that veteran politicians such as Reid can't possibly overcome. What they can do is try to outperform their Republican opponents by taking advantage of the longer window to get folks to the polls.

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/10/19/AR2010101907616.html

[KurtNYC]

1. "badger", "enthusiasm gap" "pushing to the polls"

then they call the Nevada election for Angle -- "veteran politicians such as Reid can't possibly overcome" the "gap"

Is this what passes for journalism ? I had to click through to see if this was on the opinion page.

Why even read this stuff? They go on to pretend that the GOP hasn't use absentee ballots in past races.

10/18/10
A new Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of Likely Voters in the state finds Angle with 50% to Reid’s 47%. Two percent (2%) prefer another candidate in the race, and one percent (1%) are undecided. Text

http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/elections/election_2010/election_2010_senate_elections/nevada/election_2010_nevada_senate

[Winterblues]

2. We need vote by mail so there would be no problem getting out the vote.

Why are Democrats so stubborn on something that would be so damn beneficial to them? We need to advocate for vote by mail in every single state and then there would be no stories about blacks being intimidated at the polls or Latinos getting told not to vote...The votes would be there and Democrats would see the biggest Democratic turn out in History....Look to Oregon for a good example of how people of all Parties feel about it..