DE GOP is on the comeback trail?
Apparently not if the new voter registration numbers are to be believed. As with the registration figures during the 2006 and 2008 election cycles, the Democratic Party enjoys not only increasing number of state citizens, but also an increasing disparity between itself and the supposedly reinvigorated DE GOP.
From the News Journal:
Numbers released Monday by Elections Commissioner Elaine Manlove show that the Democratic Party outnumbers the Republican Party by a 3-2 ratio — having added more than 25,000 voters since mid-summer of 2008 for a total of 289,520 of Delaware’s 614,644 voters. The GOP has added about 3,000 voters in the same period. In New Castle County, the ratio is 2-to-1 Democratic.
So over the last 18 months, the Democratic Party has added eight voters to its rolls for every one the GOP has added. That is astounding. And supposedly this came during a time when Americans and Delawareans in particular are “fed up” with Democrats running the state and country, if you believe David Anderson, Hube and the other stellar prognosticators on the right.
Also in the article is the list of political parties in Delaware, which in find interesting:
American, 81
Federalist, 6
Citizens, 30
Democratic, 289,520
Liberal, 158
New Frontier, 5
Non Partisan, 337
Green, 561
Unaffiliated, 137,888
Working Families, 512
A Delaware, 79
Libertarian, 822
Reform, 127
New Alliance, 26
Others, 421
US Taxpayer, 93
Constitution, 283
Republican, 181,050
National Statesman, 1
Conservative, 89
National Unity, 25
Natural Law, 158
Independent of Del., 1,794
Rights Of Life, 2
Blue Enigma, 304
Socialist Workers, 272TOTALS, 614,644
I want to meet the one member of the National Statesman Party. Is it Joe Lieberman?
I wonder how the mix of conservative to moderate Republicans has changed in Delaware. Quite a few Republicans switched parties to vote for Markell and Obama. Did this leave the Republican party conservative enough to give Mike Castle some headaches?
And today is the last day to switch party affiliation to vote in the primaries in the fall.
Well, I for one switched from unaffiliated to republican so I could cast in favor of Christine O in the primary. Not sure I’m in the stats though as I only switched two weeks ago.
I’m probably the classic lifetime Republican who now favors Democratic Party candidates for the first time in my long life. It all has to do with the “vibe”. The GOP has slowly over the last ten years morphed into a Rush Limbaugh mentality. It’s more about politically cleansing the USA of “liberals” than anything else. Now it comes to a head. Liberals are not just traitors, they are communists. And only my GOP knows what the Founders want. It really is pathetic. More like a cult than a major political party.
I wonder what the change in “Unaffiliated” has been?
There is another factor here. As the state shifts bluer and bluer the Democratic primaries will be more and more relevant which is an incentive to register with the Democratic Party. Also, people think that being registered with the party in power somehow gives them more clout when dealing with the government — not true anymore but it used to be. Keep in mind that these voters are not reliable D votes come November. They may be pursuadable but they aren’t blind followers.
True, Rebecca. And to that, I’d add the obvious that these are registered and therefore potential voters, not actual voters. The GOP base is a much more motivated group of voters right now. Passing ACA should help Dems a bit, but there’s still a significant enthusiasm gap I’m afraid.