Democrats Registering In Record Numbers

Washington Post: One Million New Voters For Last 7 Primaries, Dems Hope Numbers Lead To November Wins

(Washingtonpost.com)  This story was written by Eli Saslow.

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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."

The past seven states to hold primaries registered more than 1 million new Democratic voters; Republican numbers mainly ebbed or stagnated. North Carolina and Indiana, which will hold their presidential primaries on May 6, are reporting a swell of new Democrats that triples the surge in registrations before the 2004 primary.

The contest between Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama has engaged enough new voters to change the political makeup of the country, experts say. The next several months -- and the general election in November -- will reveal the extent of the shift. Is it a temporary increase in interest resulting from a close election between historic candidates? Or is it a seismic swing in party realignment that foretells the end of the red-blue stalemate?

"We are likely to set an all-time record for primary turnout," said Curtis Gans, director of the Committee for the Study of the American Electorate. "Whether this makes a major historical impact depends on who these voters are and whether or not they get what they want."

Jason Robertson, 29, walked through the voter services door a few minutes after 2 p.m., wearing a stained, long-sleeve T-shirt and a black winter cap. He had extended his lunch break to come here, and he needed to be back at work in an hour. He makes brochures in a small printing shop in a warehouse off the highway. It's a good job, and he intends to keep it.

Work had become hard to find after he picked up a felony drug charge five years ago. His cousin found him the gig at the printing shop, but it can offer him only 30 hours of work each week. Robertson dreams of opening his own shop, or applying for one of those cushy jobs printing for the state. "It's crazy," he said. "They're paying, like, $15 an hour."

Robertson always thought the felony charge disqualified him from voting, until his girlfriend picked up a registration form last month at a hair salon and read the fine print (ex-felons may vote in North Carolina if they complete all terms of their sentence, such as probation or parole). She brought it home to the two-bedroom apartment they share with their four children and told him to fill it out.

"You're always talking about wanting change," Kim Fowler told him. "Now you can help make it."

Fowler, a longtime voter, met Robertson at a post office four years ago, and her interest in politics rubbed off on him. She took him to see "Fahrenheit 9/11," and volunteered at Obama's local office. More cynical than hopeful, Robertson wasn't the volunteerin type. "George Bush cheated in both elections, and Congress should all be thrown out," he said. But lately he felt compelled by a new sense of political urgency.

"Damn it, man. I want to vote," he said. "There's no money, no jobs, and I want to feel like my vote is counting for something.

"I want them to answer me, 'What happened to the middle class?' You got rich, you got poor, and everybody is going in one of those directions."

Lately, Robertson has been sliding ever closer to broke. Since he moved in with Fowler, he has supported a household of six, including his 2-year-old son; Fowler's 10- and 8-year-old daughters from a previous relationship; and a baby they share. A few months ago, Robertson paid $632 -- a solid two weeks' wages -- to have the baby circumcised.

Medical bills have devastated their bank account, because Robertson and Fowler lack health insurance. Last year, Robertson's hand was caught in machinery at work, slicing his right index finger to the bone. His trip to the emergency room resulted in nine stitches, and he has been paying for them ever since. Three hundred dollars for anesthesia. Nine hundred for an X-ray. Six hundred for stitches.

Robertson considered asking his boss for help with the medical bills, but the company doesn't offer insurance, and he needs the job.

That is why, on the day he registered to vote, Robertson dropped off the form Fowler had given him a few days earlier and turned right back around, headed for work.

Kyla White, 18, had planned to go straight to the voting office after seventh period at Enloe High School, but now she wondered if she would ever make it there. With 10 minutes left before the final bell, her teacher had just locked the door and called a Code Red, signaling imminent danger on school grounds. As instructed, White moved away from the window, hunched under her desk and tucked her head to her knees.

For 15 minutes, she listened for gunshots.

It turned out to be a false alarm caused by a suspended student on school grounds -- just like the Code Yellow earlier in the afternoon and the morning bomb scare that forced all 2,400 students to evacuate to the football field. At the end of the school day, as White walked to her 1997 Honda with classmate Janay Lovelace, the two friends agreed: They would still drive downtown to register.

"We've got to," White said. "Life just isn't supposed to be like this."

As a senior in high school, White spent most of her time waiting on forces beyond her control. College applications, curfews, Code Reds -- she had no choice but to wait them out and hope for the best. On her Facebook profile page, she displayed a countdown to the landmarks of empowerment. Graduation: 63 days. Move in at North Carolina State: 126 days.

Voting: 25 days.

Her parents, postal service employees who met at North Carolina State, have voted in every presidential election since they turned 18. They encouraged Kyla to register.

She would cast her ballot, she told them -- but on her own terms. She wanted to vote for a multiracial America, one in which peers wouldn't call her "too white" for being one of a handful of black students in the Enloe honors program. She wanted to vote for no more Code Reds. She wanted to vote for lower gas prices.

She wanted to vote for Obama.

Her gas tank was near empty when White turned the ignition of her car to drive to voter services on that Friday afternoon. She spends almost $40 a week on gas, and she makes only about $120 each week working part time as a receptionist at Sports Clips. To afford driving, she started to skimp on meals out with friend. Snoopy's sold 99-cent hotdogs on Tuesdays. The nearby Mexican buffet cost only $3.99 at lunch.

Luckily, the drive to voter services was just 1.6 miles -- probably about $1 round trip, White guessed.

"I want the American dream of having a better life than your parents," she said, "and days like this just don't seem very dreamy."

Al Landsberg, 66, approached the counter of the voter registration office at 4 p.m., an hour before deadline. Hefty, with a hint of sweat on his white mustache, he looked as drained as the employees behind the counter who rested their heads in their hands. Voting exhausted him. Ever since he cast a ballot for Ronald Reagan, Landsberg has always felt as though he was trying to choose the lesser of two evils.

For this election, though, he decided he had no choice but to vote. A lifelong Republican, he planned to switch his party affiliation so he could vote in the Democratic primary. That Hillary Clinton wasn't great, he said, but she was just as good as presumptive GOP nominee John McCain and a heck of a lot better than that other guy, "you know, uh, Embowa. He'd take this country right down the tubes."

Landsberg's wife, Evelyn, collects porcelain dolls, and her co-collectors send the Landsbergs frequent political e-mails, most of them critical of Obama. "From what I can tell, if he becomes president he will refuse to stand for the Pledge of Allegiance and we will leave Iraq unprepared," Landsberg said. "I'm not going to sit at home and let that happen."

He needed something to do, anyway. He recently retired after five-plus years in the Marine Corps and 40 years in the printing business, and Evelyn still works at an electrical supplier. Their three children moved out long ago. The Landsbergs save what extra money they have for three or four annual trips to Las Vegas, where they can find a cheap hotel room, play the dollar slots and smoke -- indoors and in peace.

They never travel outside the United States, save the occasional Caribbean cruise. "Anything you want to see, you can see it right here," Evelyn said. Plus, they prefer to spend their tourist money at home, just as they buy only American-made cars. Not enough people look out for America these days, Landsberg said.

Like McCain, with his free-and-easy stance on immigration, which seems almost identical to Clinton's. Landsberg's father had come from Germany, first jumping ship illegally and then, after a few years and some English classes, through Ellis Island. He met Landsberg's mother during the legal immigration process.

"Anybody who came here illegally should have to leave, and I mean now," Landsberg said. "If McCain's not offering me that, I don't really see what he's offering. A vote for Clinton at least means you vote against Embowa, instead of voting for McCain, which is a vote against nobody."

He dropped his form over the counter and watched it disappear into the stack.

At 5 p.m., Poucher locked the front door at voter services and stared at the mound of registration forms piled behind the counter. Wake County had received at least 16,000 forms in the past week, and hundreds more would arrive by mail. At about three minutes per form, Poucher's office had just inherited more than 800 hours of work.

Poucher, 60, planned to work 16-hour days for the next week -- a schedule made complicated because the busiest election of her life had collided with one of her life's craziest times. Her husband died two years ago, leaving her to raise three grandchildren on her own. On Friday, she rushed home from the office at p.m., dismissed the daytime nanny, fed her two dogs, readied her 11-year-old grandson for hockey practice and doled out vitamins for her twin 9-year-old grandsons.

While her night-shift nanny helped put the twins to bed, Poucher retreated upstairs to her laptop. She wanted to input data for at least 150 new voters by the end of the night.

It was pretty mindless work, really, and her fingers danced while her mind wandered. She thought about her husband, his ashes in an urn on the shelf above her. She thought about 1972, when she ran for local office in Chicago and learned the devastating power of each individual ballot. She lost by 12 votes.

Mostly, she thought about the names on the screen in front of her. Who were they? What did they look like? Whom would they vote for? Each form held its own mystery, a new character to ponder in the electoral drama to come.

[junogoose]

mmuuuUUAAAHHAHAHAHA!!

[naucoming4u]

Until the MAJORITY of AMERICANS register as "decline to state" or as an Independent...

...the political news will never be "good".

Americans need to explain to our government that they are corrupt and that the two-party system is obsolete. As of now, Americans are just playing the political ping-pong game... it seems to happen every 4 to 8 years or so, but NOTHING EVER CHANGES!

I just wonder when the majority of the American electorate will ever get a clue. When America ceases to exist? By then it will be too late!

[notblue]

Of course CBS neglected to mention that millions of lifelong Democrats have fled the party because of it''s highjacking by the leftwing extremists, they will need all the "new democrats" they can get in November to even have a chance.

[Lai K W]

OBAMA can''t get any better with his 92% of black votes. He has an uphill battle to get anymore supports in the electorate college. Hillary however can get enough votes to beat him without much of the black support.
Democrates shall win the election if they choose the electable for November.

OBAMA can never get 2025 and can hardly be better with his 92% black votes. Hillary however can go a long way with a black VP.

OBAMA must start the general election with 48 states; Michigan and Florida go to McCain. Hillary however can start with 50 states toe to toe out class McCain.

OBAMA shown no signs of getting the working class''s credential while his pastor is doing as much damage as he could. This turns off the religious groups, rural Americans and the patriotic Americans.

It is obvious that Hillary is more electable.

There is no rule that nomination goes to the one with more delegates unless it reaches 2025 which is mission impossible for OBAMA. The rest is up to the superdelegates who should vote according to electability.

If they can''t push out Hillary and let OBAMA win by default, Hillary is almost the predominant choice.

Nobody wants to side with the one who ducks his fight. OBAMA is sort of like McGovern. Sigh! Let him live in peace with his unknown ties.

[naucoming4u]

Of course CBS neglected to mention that millions of lifelong Democrats have fled the party because of it''''s highjacking by the leftwing extremists, they will need all the "new democrats" they can get in November to even have a chance.

Posted by notblue at 10:46 AM : Apr 28, 2008
.............

The "new" Democrats are probably a huge majority of former Republicans running away from the party hijacked by the religious fundamentalists.

As I have said, many Americans are just playing the political ping-pong game. This will never fix the problems that America faces!

[tawpdawg11]

Posted by John_Lai at 10:48 AM : Apr 28, 2008

John - It is fairly obvious that this massive groundswell of new, young democratic support has to do with the campaign of one person. If that person is NOT the nominee, what do you think will happen on election day in November?

[shutupnvote]

This is really good news for all Americans, the Dem activist and DNC Pelosi..Politico Sr Dem Leadership quotes %u2026Yes, he doesn%u2019t do really well with a big part of the Democratic base, but she doesn%u2019t do well with independents, who will be critical to success in November.%u201D
rush to name their Prince has backfired Americana are turning out as if this were the General Election and are doing so to fight off losing another Political Party to a fringe sect within the Party''s activist base puppetled by Pelosi and Dean. Dont buy the spin that new voters break for Obama not Clinton it%u2019s a lie and the Sr. leadership who believes the independents are the more critical mass for an Dem White House win are just wrong%u2026.the Dem base rejects Obama and that off his radical associates like Wright and will not let Move On types take control of their Party as the Neo Cons did the Republicans.

DNC and Pelosi better reign in their surrogates with Donna Brazile, Clyburn, Sharpton and Wright out there inflaming our countries youth any activism that harms people or property falls directly at their feet and don%u2019t expect poodles from the Dem Base they haven%u2019t and won%u2019t roll over.


Now Wright wants to be VP for who McCain?

[hungry1968]

How do you spell republican?

D-O-O-M-E-D!!

LOL!!!

[enoughya]

Hillary is accentuating all the worst traits associated with women, exemplifying a word that rhymes with witch commonly used to describe such women. Her smuggness in claiming everyone is voting for her now is audacious, given the crossovers from the Republican party (now that their nomination is locked in) to vote for Hillary as easiest to run against for McCain, even though these same people absolutely hate Hillary. Hillary is like an unprincipled guest who drops by uninvited and refuses to leave. She proves the old adage that "you give a woman an inch and she will take a mile." The vast majority of Americans just want the Clintons to get lost, and Clinton fatigue grows worse and worse the longer her ugly campaign goes on.

[jack3213]

OF COURSE VOTERS ARE LINING UP IN RECORD NUMBERS- THERE IS ALREADY A REPUBLICAN CHOSEN AND THE CONSERVATIVES WANT TO PICK THE ONE THEY WANT TO LOSE. GEEZ.IF IT WERE REVERSED IT WOULD BE THE SAME RECORD NUMBERS. COMMON SENSE PEOPLE

[newz4i]

Hopefully this groundswell of registered Democrats will outsource Republicans.

A vote against the Bush/McCain ticket will bring America back home.

Hip! Hip! for our Country!

[lochlan-2009]

"Democrats Registering In Record Numbers"

That''s because the Bush Administration has been abusing their power so blatantly that it almost seems they are trying to steer the constituency to vote for an all Democratic government. The global warming, alternative energy agenda is deffinatly expecting this.

[jack3213]

NEWSFORI SAID "A vote against the Bush/McCain ticket will bring America back home.
Hip! Hip! for our Country!"
IF YOU BELIEVE THE SKY WILL OPEN AND ALL THINGS WONDERFUL WILL CAHNGE BECAUSE OF A DEMOCRAT IN OFFICE YOU ARE DUMB AS WOOD.

[citizenusa-2009]

Our country has been brought to it''s knees by this Republican Administration. Unless your family is in oil or has shares in Haliburton, you are going to vote for a Democrat. Bush, Cheney & Co. have made their billions off the lives of our American soldiers. They can now retire with their blood money.

[Renegade.Rivers]

I still believe that an independent or 3rd party candidate that has some common sense, and some moral fiber could clean the clock of both parties this election. I am tired of voting for for lesser of two evils ever election, and with the way this election is looking, there is no lesser, just more evil.

I will never vote for either the Repub''s, or the Dem''s candidate. The way this is going, this may well be the first presidential election I have not voted in in the last 40 years. Besides what difference will it make any way, between the crooked voting machines, and the crooked voting counts.

[irliberal]

Question

What does a neocon / republican do after November, 2008?

A) Cry
B) Whine
C) Collective apoplexy
D) All of the above

[honestabe8]

Ol Honest Abe is probably rolling over in his grave.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Posted by fedupwithit1 at 11:04 AM : Apr 28, 2008
+ report abuse

Thanks for your concern, but I am fine.

[notblue]

IRliberal, you people are really going to be in shock come November. It seems most leftwingers like yourself are under the mistaken impreesion that the SILENT MAJORITY of voters in this country are ready for one of two firsts in the history of our country, a female or black president. While I have no problem with either the reality is it won''t happen. It wouldn''t bother me if it did because unlike you I realize this country is not run by one person. You people are so used to beleiving your own fantasy of blame for one man that you think that is the reality. There will be many suprised people in November it will be interesting to here all the rationalizing, it wouldn''t surprise me if the DEms demand a nation wide recount!

[haoli25]

Bad news for McBush and bad news for the U.S.

[jn122736]

Hopefully, the surge in registration of new voters is indicative of a much needed new surge in the DESIRE to vote by ALL American voters, including those who are already registered but often fail to actually vote.

[libh8er]

''Democrats Registering In Record Numbers''

ROFL...you''ll need every single one! :) I remember ''Get Out The Vote'' or whatever it was called. Bruce Springstean, et al, were out signing up all kinds of dopers at their concerts.

If you register 1000, maybe 6 or 7 will actually get off their lazy arses and go vote. Much easier for the dems to count the votes of dead people - three times! LOL

[newz4i]

"IF YOU BELIEVE THE SKY WILL OPEN AND ALL THINGS WONDERFUL WILL CAHNGE BECAUSE OF A DEMOCRAT IN OFFICE YOU ARE DUMB AS WOOD."

If you believe electing another Republican, a Bush-a-like, to govern our country, fight our wars, will be your best vote, you''re conspiring to toss out American values ... permanently.

[far_point200]

Hmmm.... Buy how many are actually alive and are not from South America?

[naucoming4u]

"...it wouldn''t surprise me if the Dems demand a nation wide recount!"

Posted by notblue at 12:42 PM : Apr 28, 2008
............


1, 2, 4, 7, 10, 14, 13, 9.... yep, the Republicans won!

(Official recount brought to you by Diebold)

[far_point200]

What does a neocon / republican do after November, 2008?
a) pay more in taxes for more useless federal social programs
b) pay more to creepy entitlment people
c) pay for more non-productive/meaningless government jobs
d) pay for green company subsidies
e) all the above and more and more

[ramos937]

GOP - Thy name doomed.

[sgtrds]

Democrats Registering In Record Numbers

Thanks to Barack Obama.

[sgtrds]

Question

What does a neocon / republican do after November, 2008?

A) Cry
B) Whine
C) Collective apoplexy
D) All of the above

Posted by IRLiberal at 12:15 PM : Apr 28, 2008

E) Declare martial law and seize control.

[mike71067]

The Dems are forgetting two things:

1. Registrations are at record levels because Obama and Hillary are still battling it out, and according to the last survey I saw, many of those voters will vote for McCain if their candidate loses.

2. Republicans who are not too excited about McCain will become very excited once a Democrat is nominated and the real fight begins.

[mike71067]

"GOP - Thy name doomed."
-Posted by ramos937 at 01:26 PM : Apr 28, 2008

Keep on thinking that. Your two candidates are hopelessly locked in a never-ending battle with each other, and Hillary looks like she might emerge the winner now (I almost choked saying that). Many supporters of Obama or Hillary will vote for McCain if their candidate loses.

[stevex47]

"IF YOU BELIEVE THE SKY WILL OPEN AND ALL THINGS WONDERFUL WILL CAHNGE BECAUSE OF A DEMOCRAT IN OFFICE YOU ARE DUMB AS WOOD."

Can''t find the caps lock button? No surprise. Oh, and calling names too? No surprise.

[s1ckd09]

Operation Chaos a success... Funny how it doesn''t even get a mention...

[libra127]

POLL; CLINTON HAS BETTER CHANCE THAN OBAMA OF BEATING McCAIN
By Liz Sidoti, Associated Press

Hillary Rodham Clinton has a better chance than Barack Obama of beating Republican John McCain, according to a new Associated Press-Ipsos poll that bolsters her argument that she is more electable in the fall than her rival for the Democratic nomination.

The survey released Monday gives Clinton a fresh talking point as she works to convince pivotal undecided superdelegates to side with her in the drawn-out Democratic primary fight.

Clinton, who won the Pennsylvania primary last week, has gained ground this month in a hypothetical head-to-head match up with the GOP nominee-in-waiting; she now leads McCain, 50 percent to 41 percent, while Obama remains virtually tied with McCain, 46 percent to 44 percent.

[stevex47]

"Many supporters of Obama or Hillary will vote for McCain if their candidate loses."

Man that kool aid is good stuff. Um, not one will vote for McCain, but good try. Many?, ha.

[naucoming4u]

Question

What does a neocon / republican do after November, 2008?

A) Cry
B) Whine
C) Collective apoplexy
D) All of the above

Posted by IRLiberal at 12:15 PM : Apr 28, 2008

E) Declare martial law and seize control.

Posted by SgtRDS at 01:35 PM : Apr 28, 2008
............

THE CORRECT ANSWER IS "E"!

[mjvw2]

Question
What does a neocon / republican do after November, 2008?
A) Cry
B) Whine
C) Collective apoplexy
D) All of the above
Posted by IRLiberal at 12:15 PM : Apr 28, 2008
E) Declare martial law and seize control.
Posted by SgtRDS at 01:35 PM : Apr 28, 2008
THE CORRECT ANSWER IS "E"!
Posted by NAUcoming4U

You forgot:
Take my money and my 30 jobs and move to Grand Cayman. That''s my correct answer.

[bookout2]

If Obama wins, I will vote for McCain. She is the
best chance to put this country back together again.

[randynason]

Democrats will SLAUGHTER the Republicans. The party needs to be made extinct.

[lovegetpeace]

Good-bye Filibuster and Veto Powers. Jan 1, 2009 RIP.

[tburzio]

Operation Chaos!

[Po Win]

Brimming with unabashed arrogance and a numerical argument that is clearly flawed, Senator Clinton has been asked to withdraw regardless that it has been repeatedly said that neither candidate can accrue enough pledged delegates to win the nomination. That "Clinton and Obama remain statistically tied with John McCain in matchups" further repudiates Leahy''s rationale, arguments rife with cynicism, Richardson''s hubris, and Ms. Pelosi''s posturing which is helping the GOP exponentially, it''s sad. Silence can be a good thing, especially if it''s Floridians who truly need to be silenced.

[libra127]

Finding her methods the very same Karl-Rove-ish stuff that has hurt so many of us before, made us sad for our nation.

Posted by GaiasChild at 05:41 PM : Apr 28, 2008

To consider Hillary''s tactics as Karl-Rove-ish is very naive. For an insight into what Karl Rove himself has been up to lately, take a look at the article at:

www.TheCityEdition.com/Pages/Archive/Winter08/2008Election.html

From the abstract: "Rove strategy involves GOP crossover voting to take out CLINTON, marketing newcomer Obama, stripping battleground delegates, inciting a convention riot and (if necessary) declaring Martial law."

Rove has in fact ENDORSED OBAMA. Gee, wonder what that means?

[rowdytexan2]

Obama may have a little more trouble than he does right now...

(CNN) %u2013 North Carolina Gov. Mike Easley will endorse Hillary Clinton''s White House bid, two sources close to the campaign tell CNN.

The endorsement could give the New York senator a boost in the state with one week to go until its crucial May 6 primary. Recent polling suggests Barack Obama currently holds a double-digit lead over Clinton there, though no polls have been released since Clinton%u2019s win in Pennsylvania last week.

Easley is also a superdelegate %u2014"

Wonder why you don''t hear this on CBS?

[sgtrds]

Does Hillary Clinton really believe she can overtake Barack Obama among elected delegates?

Posted by blackspirit3 at 03:15 PM : Apr 28, 2008


That''s no longer the goal. She knows she''s lost this year so her goal now is to poison the Democratic water so badly that Barack won''t get elected and then she can run again in 2012. Of course more soldiers will die under 4 years of a McCain debacle of a presidency, but that''s a "sacrifice" she''s willing to make to get the White House.

[abbe91]

"If Obama wins, I will vote for McCain. She is the
best chance to put this country back together again.
Posted by bookout2 at 02:16 PM : Apr 28, 2008"

She ? Giuliani is out of the race, you know.