Like most Americans following the hype surrounding today’s election, I accepted at face value the Republican claim that they had a formidable 72-hour get out the vote machine that would turn the tables on the Democrats. I think it is bullshit and here’s why.
I’m still a registered Republican in Maryland, as is my wife. During the 2002 and the 2004 elections we were called several times by Republican volunteers asking if we were going to vote and offering to schlep us to the polls. Not this time. I sat by the phone yesterday waiting eagerly to get a GOP call (I wanted to give them a piece of my mind). Nothing. Crickets.
So, today, I call up a couple of Republican buddies who also live in Maryland and ask if they had been called. No calls other than a robo from Rudy Guiliani a couple of days ago. I reached out to an old friend across the river in Virginia. He’s a registered Republican and has given them money. No calls and no visitors. Yet, early this morning, someone knocked on his door and asked him to vote for Jim Webb.
Maryland and Virginia are critical races for the Republicans and they appear to be missing in action. And turnout is heavy in both places. While my sample is not statistically significant, I think it reflects something happening on the ground that the polls missed. The discontent among Independents, Democrats, and even some Republicans is real and intense. It also appears Karl Rove and his buddies have handled the elections like the war in Iraq and the aftermath of Katrina–they talk tough but put no muscle behind their words. Let’s hope so.
