Dems Registering At Record Pace
By Justin Gardner | Related entries in 2008 Election, Barack, Democrats, Hillary, McCain, RepublicansOne thing’s for sure…whoever is the Dem nominee in the Fall (coughObamacough), they’ll have a lot of motivated Dems behind them.
RALEIGH, N.C. — They lined up shoulder to shoulder inside the gray high-rise downtown, their politics as diverse as their backgrounds. An ex-felon who needs health insurance, followed by a high school student seeking empowerment, followed by a Marine Corps veteran who wants to prevent his country from crumbling.Like hundreds of others, their quests led them to the Wake County voter services office this month to register as Democrats for the first time. The line of newcomers that snaked across the checkered tile floor was emblematic of those that have formed across the country this year: black voters, young voters, lifelong Republicans switching parties — all registering in record numbers, and all aligning as Democrats.
Elections Director Cherie Poucher waited for them behind a counter with a jar of pens and a 10-inch stack of registration forms. She had hired 10 people from a temp agency to help handle the rush on this final day of North Carolina voter registration. Now, as she watched four more people file through the door, Poucher wished she had hired more.
“In 20 years,” she said, “I’ve never seen anything quite like it.”
And this has happened in literally every single state the Dems have been to this campaign season. Food for thought: if the race hadn’t been competitive, would the Dems have gotten this many people to come out and register/vote? So in that sense a drawn out contest might actually be a good thing, yes? I’m just saying…
This entry was posted on Monday, April 28th, 2008 and is filed under 2008 Election, Barack, Democrats, Hillary, McCain, Republicans. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
April 29th, 2008 at 6:29 am
I don’t think the drawn-out contest helps the Dems, but I like to see that kind of excitement.
I’m an Obama supporter, but I will work hard to get either of these two elected in November.
I’d guess – and hope – that most of the overzealous supporters of these two candidates will, in the end, get behind the nominee even if it isn’t the one they wanted. At least, I hope they’re not petty enough to vote for McCain or to stay home on election day. The alternative is just too scary.