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Democrats Plow Money Into Risky Plan for Energizing New Voters in Midterms

1 year ago
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The Democratic Party is laying down a $50 million bet that it can breathe into the midterm elections the kind of energy and enthusiasm among new voters that President Obama's campaign generated in overwhelming the Republicans in 2008, the Washington Post reports.

The move carries many risks. There's the question of whether the same strategy will work in a year that Obama's name is not actually on the ballot. It uses resources that otherwise would go in an off-year election to turning out the party base. And it comes in a year where polls have shown that the voters really excited about the midterms are the Republicans.

This year's outlay compares to 2006 when the Democrats spent $17 million on its new voter effort.

Hispanic votersIt's a great experiment to see whether we can bring out voters whose only previous vote was in 2008," Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, told the Post.

The Post said that party officials acknowledged the effort was not likely to affect contests where Democrats are far behind but could tip those where the margin between contenders is two to four points.

But some veteran Democratic operatives are highly skeptical, with one quoted by the Post as saying, "I have zero confidence that they're heading in the right direction here."

Some of the internal critics within the party suggest the effort is more likely to help keep the grassroots movement Obama started in 2008 alive for his 2012 re-election bid.

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cl9dr

GO DEMOCRATICS YOU CAN DO IT .NOW THAT YOU KNOW THE GAME; BUT A BIT OF ADVICE'IF YOU DONT HELP ALL DEMOCRATICS YOU WILL NOT WIN; A CHANGE IN STRAGETY' SOME DEMOCRATICS ARE WEARY, AT THE WAY REPUBLICAN OR REPUBLC ARE COMING DOWN ON RELEGION' I KNOW THE TIME WE ARE CURRENTLY LIVING IN' BUT A LOT OF PEOPLE DONT ;IT IS TIME TO SEPERATE FROM THE WAY YOU HAVE DID THINGS IN THE PAST; WE THE MODERN DEMOCRATS WANT TO SEE MORE ,NOT A LOT OF LIES' YOU HAVE PLENTY OF TIME TO PULL THIS OFF WE ARE READY; TELL THE PEOPLE WHAT YOU WANT US TO DO AND WE WILL 100 PERCEINT DO IT RIGHT'

August 30 2010 at 1:56 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Steven

Why don't they take a pay cut like I did in-order to keep my job? I lost nearly 28% of my base pay or face permanent layoff!
They can't buy my vote and that's a promise!

June 20 2010 at 6:18 PM Report abuse +14 rate up rate down Reply
glendaaparis

New bumper sticker in town: 2010: DO NOT RE-ELECT ANYONE.

June 20 2010 at 1:57 PM Report abuse +22 rate up rate down Reply
ettu

Que sera, sera.

June 20 2010 at 1:29 PM Report abuse -11 rate up rate down Reply
ettu

Well, they better try something, because, they are right now sitting in an oil slick, and atop a mudslide, to boot. Deservedly so, for not listening to the voices of the people.

June 20 2010 at 1:05 PM Report abuse +28 rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to ettu's comment
davidrdogbow

Chuck, how is a mechanical failure almost 2 years into Obama's presidency Republicans fault?

You had been making logical comments for a while, don't slide back into the past.

June 22 2010 at 2:35 PM Report abuse +1 rate up rate down Reply
nnanciejean

Think of all the money wasted on elections. This could be better spent paying down the deficit that is at an all time high. While the politicians look at more ways to spend our money and take away our 401k they cannot justify to the main public the amount spent on elections. This is just unexcusable in these hard times. Stimulus should have been given to us to spend, not just certain political interest groups who contributed to the dem party.

June 20 2010 at 12:57 PM Report abuse +37 rate up rate down Reply
Escalonz

After forcing the American people into a health care they did not want and the oil spill; I'm sure they will try anything they can as even the liberal media seems somewhat mellowed out in their defense. The problem with the midterm elections is that they are too far away for a quick and well deserved political setback by the electorate. Can we say political revenge will be the order of the day?

June 20 2010 at 12:26 PM Report abuse +19 rate up rate down Reply
Bill

Obama blew his mandate. He has not kept his campaign promises. Although he is not as bad as Bush, and even though I voted for him, he has shown that he is the CAN'T President.

June 20 2010 at 12:16 PM Report abuse +13 rate up rate down Reply
jhammelman

Many young people are out of work because of Obamas wild economic policy. I don't think many are happy with getting nothing more than a new health insurance bill to pay. I predict Dems loose big time in November. Obama made promoises he can't keep, or lied depending on how you want to look at it.

June 20 2010 at 12:03 PM Report abuse +25 rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to jhammelman's comment
mdavidelder

Obamas wild economic policy? Shouldn't that Bush deregulation, shipping jobs overseas, and running up the national debt in wars. Remember it was Bush who invaded Iraq and signed TARP into law. Now with Republicans apologizing to BP I think you're dead wrong about November.

June 20 2010 at 7:40 PM Report abuse -14 rate up rate down Reply
nancyskr

It never ceases to amaze me that there is always enough money to be poured into elections for a group of egomaniacs and their self importance while the people of this country continue to get screwed.

June 20 2010 at 12:02 PM Report abuse +31 rate up rate down Reply

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