Democrats Leading In Voter Registration

Party Posts Big Gains While GOP Loses Voters In Key States

(AP)  Five days a week, Linda Graham trolls tattered neighborhoods of this once thriving steel city outside Pittsburgh for unregistered voters she can sign up as Democrats - one of thousands of unknown volunteers whose work outside the limelight has already altered the basic arithmetic of the November election.

The epic nomination battle between Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton helped put millions more Democrats on the voter rolls while Republican registration declined. Now Graham, 45, has taken three months of unpaid leave from her job at Pittsburgh's Central Blood Bank in the hope of adding to those gains before the presidential vote.

She's encouraged by the response here. "They're all feeling the crunch" of lost jobs and a sagging economy, Graham said. "But people are feeling empowered. They're feeling like, 'You know what, I hold a little bit of power in this.'"

To counter this effort, the Republicans are counting on a formidable, high-tech get-out-the-vote operation that has helped them win the past two presidential elections.

Since the last federal election in 2006, volunteers like Graham combined with the enthusiasm generated by the Obama-Clinton struggle to add more than 2 million Democrats to voter rolls in the 28 states that register voters according to party affiliation. The Republicans have lost nearly 344,000 voters in the same states.

The Democrats hope their voter registration efforts can boost Obama to victory in competitive states like Pennsylvania, Nevada and Florida and perhaps even give him a shot at winning traditional Republican states like Georgia, North Carolina and Virginia.

Both Obama and his Republican rival, John McCain, are fighting for independent swing voters, and many of the new Democrats had been unaffiliated voters.

The number of unaffiliated voters dropped by nearly 900,000 since 2006. Many joined the Democratic Party to take part in the primaries and caucuses, and now they will now be targeted by an aggressive get-out-the-vote campaign.

"We feel that our supporters are more enthusiastic than we've seen in previous cycles," said Jon Carson, Obama's national field director.

The Obama campaign is taking the lead among the party organizations and labor unions that traditionally work on voter registration efforts.

Because party organizations and unions, like the Service Employees International Union to which Graham belongs, can raise unrestricted amounts of money, presidential campaigns typically rely on them to handle the bulk of voter registration drives, Democratic National Committee chairman Howard Dean said in an interview.

"This is the first campaign I've seen where the voter registration is done by the campaign," Dean said.

The Republicans are relying on a more traditional voter registration model, with the Republican National Committee leading the effort among state parties.

"We hope that the hard work we've done in the past will provide us with a strategic advantage," said Mike DuHaime, McCain's political director. "We will have the most technologically advanced ground operation ever."

DuHaime said the RNC is working with the state parties to register voters in every battleground state. He said there is extra emphasis on the fast-growing ones, including Nevada, Colorado, New Mexico, Florida and North Carolina.

He said the GOP's comprehensive voter database helps it track voters moving into competitive states.

"If you ever voted in a Republican primary and move without registering, we pick it up," DuHaime said.

Nationwide, there are about 42 million registered Democrats and about 31 million Republicans, according to statistics compiled by The Associated Press.

The Democrats have posted big gains in many competitive states, including Nevada, New Hampshire, Iowa, Colorado and Florida. They have also been targeting historically Republican southern states.

Since 2006, the Democrats have added 167,000 voters in North Carolina, while the Republicans have added 36,000. The Democrats' biggest voter registration goal is in Georgia, where the Obama campaign hopes to register 500,000 voters before the election, said Dean, who has spent the past month traveling the country on a voter registration bus tour.

"The Obama folks are serious about Georgia," Dean said. Georgia has added 337,000 voters since 2006, but the state does not identify them by party affiliation.

In Pennsylvania, the Democrats have added 375,000 voters since 2006 while the Republicans have lost 117,000.

America Votes, an umbrella organization, coordinates voter registration efforts for more than 40 groups in Pennsylvania, including unions, the NAACP and the Sierra Club.

On a recent weekday, two dozen volunteers canvas neighborhoods in five southwest Pennsylvania counties, targeting African-Americans in their teens and twenties, who tend to vote at lower rates than older voters.

Graham, the SEIU member, works the neighborhoods of Clairton, where the steel industry's decline has left more downtown storefronts boarded up than occupied.

Graham finds a potential voter at the first house she stops at. Justin Webb, a father of two, is unregistered, but tells Graham he has serious concerns about the economy.

"We need more jobs," said Webb, 28. "If we had more jobs, we would have more opportunities to better ourselves."

It takes Graham less than five minutes to register Webb as a Democrat.


Party Registration By State

Since 2006, the Democrats have added 2.1 million voters in the 28 states that registered voters by party affiliation in both 2006 and today. The Republicans have lost nearly 344,000 voters in the same states. The number of registered voters in each party, the percent change since 2006:

State     Dem     Change     GOP     Change
Ala.       na     na     na     na
Alaska     73,446     9.3%     120,611     3.7%
Ariz.      1,090,484     7.9%     1,207,993     2.7%
Ark.      na     na     na     na     
Calif.      7,053,860     4.8%     5,244,394     -3.5%
Colo.      946,277     5.5%     1,024,504     -4.0%
Conn.      707,885     0.4%     408,376     -5.7%
Del.      264,167     7.3%     179,470     0.5%
D.C.      290,931     -0.2%      29,220      -5.7%
Fla.      4,389,698     4.0%     3,924,081     -0.3%
Ga.      na     na     na     na     
Hawaii     na     na     na     na     
Idaho      na     na     na     na     
Ill.      na     na     na     na     
Ind.      na     na     na     na     
Iowa     713,656     12.8%      618,731     1.5%
Kan.      449,058     1.6%     741,786     -2.9%
Ky.      1,647,140     4.4%     1,043,331     3.2%
La.      1,525,915     -1.9%      722,420     1.9%
Maine     318,807     3.0%     274,189     -2.0%
Md.      1,804,106     4.1%     901,347     -0.9%
Mass.      1,476,133     0.2%     486,188     -2.6%
Mich.      na     na     na     na     
Minn.      na     na     na     na     
Miss.      na     na     na     na     
Mo.      na     na     na     na     
Mont.      na     na     na     na     
Neb.      372,864     0.6%     550,581     -3.9%
Nev.      564,885     14.3%      489,396     1.3%
N.H.      264,122     19.2%      269,119     5.0%
N.J.      1,682,352     46.3%      1,030,142     15.7%
N.M.      543,615     1.0%     354,272     -1.3%
N.Y.      5,438,800     -1.3%      2,995,982     -4.3%
N.C.      2,656,706     6.7%     1,936,584     1.9%
N.D.      na     na     na     na     
Ohio     na     na     na     na     
Okla.      1,025,611     -1.6%      806,943     0.5%
Ore.      869,538     13.3%      676,895     -4.2%
Pa.      4,275,524     9.6%     3,184,081     -3.5%
R.I.      277,961     na     75,480      na     
S.C.      na     na     na     na     
S.D.      197,575     3.5%     236,232     -1.6%
Tenn.      na     na     na     na     
Texas     na     na     na     na     
Utah     119,759     na     581,173     na     
Vt.      na     na     na     na     
Va.      na     na     na     na     
Wash.      na     na     na     na     
W.Va.      665,234     2.5%     347,760     1.4%
Wis.      na     na     na     na     
Wyo.      70,363      4.6%     155,912     -4.3%
Nation     41,776,472 5.3%     30,617,193     -1.1%

[jmurrieta1]

Minn. na na na na
Mich. na na na na


John McClone passed over the governor''s of these upper Midwest states, Romney and Pawlenty, to get a glamor queen who espoused Alaska''s secession from the USA (isn''t that treason?) and thinks that teenage girls who are raped by their uncle or older brother should be forced by the federal government to bear the child.

The people of Minnesota and of Michigan won''t soon forget the insult that McClone and the Republicans have dealt.

Mark Minnesota and Michigan Blue.

You can still mark Alaska Red.

And you''ll still be saying "President Obama" next year.

Thanks, Mcclone!

[existinguser]

I don''t know about you, but I trust the Republicans. They are true to their word - people of principles and integrity. www.youtube.com/watch?v=NBaCcRMStxc

[mrjake7]

Obama should have chosen his gay lover from college! Where are they hiding him? He hasn''t been heard from in a year!

[bfjones666]

Of course the Democrats are leading in voter registration. The republicans squandered EVERYTHING since 9/11, putting the country on the wrong path and alienating all of our former allies to the point that our go-it-alone BS has become toxic. All of this is attributable to the Republicans. Hell, some republicans aren''t even mentioning the fact that they are republicans as they run for re-election. Quick question: How many times did John Sydney McCain III use the word Republican in his speech? That should tell you all you need to know.

[Atlantic2752]

Romney was gov. of Massachusetts, not michigan

[Atlantic2752]

And a crappy gov. at best... he didn''t run for re-election because he knew he would lose, so he ran for President instead,,,, he''s a fool and a Republican tool.... running for Gov. he was pro choice, running for Prez he was pro life.... talk about a flip flopper.
Just like McSame

[jmurrieta1]

Romney was gov. of Massachusetts, not michigan


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

Posted by PaulO27


You''re right, it was Romney''s father who was governor of Michigan.

They''re still not going to appreciate it.

[jmurrieta1]

"Obama should have chosen his gay lover from college! Where are they hiding him? He hasn''''t been heard from in a year!


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

Posted by mrjake7



God, what stone do you clime crawl out from under? Does McCain know you''re out of your cage?

[jmurrieta1]

Young people especially are starting to realize that our whole future could ride on this election--whether to continue the ruinous policies of the Bush-Cheney regime, no matter how fast the Republicans try to run away from them, or to elect a true leader with real vision for the future.

"Squeaky" McCain and "Screechy" Palin aren''t it.

And, do you really want to listen to the voices on those two for the next several years? The wooden, squeaky delivery of McCain, or the glass-shattereing shrillness of Palin?

I think not.

No more. No thanks. No McCain!

[ramos937]

These are my unsolicited two cents. Before you register to vote, do this:

First, try as best you can, to decide where you want the USA to be both domestically and internationally in 2012.

Second, strip away all of the mud, excess baggage, doodoo, etc as you can from what you have learned about Obama and McCain.

Third, after you have done the second step, decide which one of the two men is most likely to get us to where you want the USA in 2012. Vote and support that choice.

But, please vote. Too many good men/women have suffered and died to give you that right.

[yellow651]

Of course the dems are leading in voter registration. I just wonder how many of the new voters are living and not illegals.

[Atlantic2752]

Oh, I see.....do ya mean the "high-tech" approach whereby you "fix" our voting machines? LOL LOL

Posted by sun247 at 01:06 PM : Sep 06, 2008

Check the voting machines in Florida and Ohio...

Made by a company that regularly donates to Republicans

They stole the last 2 elections, they''re going for 3

[rainydayacct]

McCain policy = Bush policy. If that''s been working for you, vote Republican. If not, vote Democrat.

[truthradar]

FLAGS WERE DISCARDED WHERE? SMALL MINDS - SMALL ISSUES...what an idiot! I live in big predominently WHITE county in the south, a REPUBLICAN stonghold big on patriotic yap yap and every 4th of July the parade route is a sea of Amercian FLAGS as far as you can see, passed out to parade''goers, courtesy of local businesses, organizers and hopefuls running for office. And like every year, at the end of the parade the streets & nearby lawns are covered with FLAGS...the garbage cans are filled with FLAGS...so what''s the point??? Are you saying the Boy Scouts in my county don''t give a *** OR that Republicans in the south are patriotic hypocrits? America is in deep doodoo with big issues right now & we''re all fed up with SMALL MINDS & SMALL ISSUES centered around whose the most friggin patriotic...GIVE IT A BREAK!

[blitzder]

McCain claims he is going to cut taxes, yipeeee..,but according to the figures released today 84,000 jobs lost, IF THERE ARE NO JOBS, WHAT GOOD WILL A TAX CUT DO, THERE IS NO INCOME TO TAX.

[blitzder]

McCain/Palin you can''t fool all of the people all the time. You had the last 8 YEARS, YOU BLEW IT.

Come November, its time for republicans to be junked in the trashcan of history.

[sparks224]

It looks like the Republicans will have to work extra-hard this time to prevent legal voters from voting, and/or manipulate the results.

They are going to have their work cut out for them.

It will be interesting to see if they can pull it off.

[cbs4me3]

It is being reported that at BO''s Denver thing, American Flags were thrown into the trash. Boy Scouts rescued these flags and will bring to John McCain''s rally in Colorado Springs. What is wrong with this guy. He has dissed Small-Town America, his wife was not proud of America until recently, and now he and supporters have thrown American flags into the trash. We must learn his reason for doing this, before the election.

[shoebox119]

CBS: Since 2006, the Democrats have added 2.1 million voters in the 28 states that registered voters by party affiliation in both 2006 and today. The Republicans have lost nearly 344,000 voters in the same states.

_____

These are very compelling numbers. One question, are pollsters able to contact these newly registered voters?

[sparks224]

Title should read "Deadbeats leading in registration."
Posted by b48151

I think you are confusing Democrats with Republicans, you know, the Corporate Welfare Queens (and Kings).

[sparks224]

"..One question, [Republican] are pollsters able to contact these newly registered voters?"
Posted by shoebox119

Yes, they are. The trouble is, they don''t want to. That would expose the voter fraud lie.

[sparks224]

"..One question, are [Republican] pollsters able to contact these newly registered voters?"
Posted by shoebox119

Yes, they are. The trouble is, they don''t want to. That would expose the voter fraud lie.

[sparks224]

It looks like the Republicans will have to work extra-hard this time to prevent legal voters from voting, and/or manipulate the results.

They are going to have their work cut out for them.

It will be interesting to see if they can pull it off.

[formrusmcsgt]

"The epic nomination battle between Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton helped put millions more Democrats on the voter rolls while Republican registration declined."

Know why Repubs can''t register people in middle and lower class neighborhoods?

Because if they tried, they''d be laughed right out of the neighborhood.....

[ariel133]

Such media BS. Republicans will kick A-- in Nov. Just watch & wait.

[blackshaft-2009]

Obama does not have to be an intern or whatever?
Yeah he plans not to go through life not like everyone else?
He was not an executive so how can he lead people? You need at least 3 years as an intern. They want to give the presidency to a person who does not know how to lead people?

[blackshaft-2009]

Obama does not even have the experience to be in charge of a Deli. Let alone a union, let alone a country called America. Why would any educated democrat vote for Obama with no executive experience? Its beyond belief.

[peterp111]

A worker at Denver''s Invesco Field saved thousands of unused flags from the Democratic National Convention that were headed for the garbage.

Even though The Democrats had no use for the flags, the Republicans did. The Democrats'' discarded flags were used at a McCain/Palin event in Colorado Springs.

You would think that when your standard bearer has a record of disrespecting the flag, and even replaces the American flag with the Obama logo, his campaign would be a lot more sensitive to the issue.

Liberals have proven they are the loser Americans.

[blackshaft-2009]

Obama quote?
Hillary please help me we cannot do it without you? Bend over a second time for us? We need someone with bbaallss to do are fighting? Joe Biden and I have no executive experience As do John Mccain and Sarah Palin.
Please Hillary Please Hillary help us so you can get it a second time.

[jmurrieta1]

As a previously registered Republican I have a message to Republican leaders--I''m simply disgusted with what you''ve given us since 2000--smears, slime, failure, and corruption.

You have lost my vote, and the votes of many others.

Read ''em and weep!

Obama ''08!

[marshall65]

"Obama does not even have the experience to be in charge of a Deli. Let alone a union, let alone a country called America. Why would any educated democrat vote for Obama with no executive experience? Its beyond belief.".........You''re simply putting out a gut instinct comment which is a hand me down from the likes of Limbaugh. Get into the voting records on key issues. For example, McCain hasn''t voted on key GI-Veterans bills in the past few years or voted for increases in health care costs or against benefits. On the other hand, Obama votes for Military and Veterans benefits and votes. That to me, as a vet, is showing more respect for the flag than the lip service given by his opponent. If you think the country has prospered under the Republicans, you''re looking at some cooked books.

[whitemale08]

this article doesn''t surprise me. People want to end the war in Iraq NOW not a 100 years from now and fix the economy.

And no cheerleader bimbo who knows how to be a corrupt "bi*** with power" is going to "cut it".

Obama is the real deal, Palin is just a "flash in the pan".

[mr2258]

Democrats are voting for McCain/Palin.

[liberalme]

Looks like the surge IS working!!!!

[liberalme]

I couldn''''''''t agree more. I just think Mc Cain is our man.

Posted by tonic1111

Hahaha when he was running against Bush--you guys chose Bush as the better man--now you''re chosing the loser?

Unbelievable

[stn_sage]

RepugliCONs should be defeated on the basis of three factors:
1. FAILURE- past performance of Bush 7 2/3 years, GOP last 14 years!
2. FAILURE- to sign new voters up combined with people leaving the GOP!
3. FAILURE- of the classic test, are you better off today than you were before this party took power?!

Conclusion: They''ll HAVE to cheat through voting machine fraud to win! If they do that---AGAIN, I believe the public isn''t going to stand for it a third time in a row! There WILL be trouble!

Bush and the GOP will down in history as having caused the second American civil war!

[ragnar30066]

Democrats have led voter registration for nearly a hundred years now. Wonder what happens between the time someone registers and the time they vote?

Apparently they inform themselves, make their own decisions and vote their own values and beliefs.

Thanks for helping to get all those people registered to vote for Sarah Palin.

[liberalme]

Conclusion: They''''ll HAVE to cheat through voting machine fraud to win! If they do that---AGAIN, I believe the public isn''''t going to stand for it a third time in a row! There WILL be trouble!

Bush and the GOP will down in history as having caused the second American civil war!
Posted by stn_sage at 03:59 PM : Sep 06, 2008

I''m not worried about Diebold this time---they have been charged with 23 incidents including a "back door" in their computer system. Fined on all 23 charges.

[liberalme]

Thanks for helping to get all those people registered to vote for Sarah Palin.


Posted by ragnar30066

Why would they not just register Repuklican or Independant?

[nextgenman]

Well Duh. Americans are fed up with the psycho RINOs.

[efarris38]

Sarah Pailn ain''t gonna do jack! This election is about getting Bush and the Republicans OUT after 8 years of their destruction. The Democrats are poised to gain 5-7 Senate seats as well. I am voting Democratic!

[caliguy55]

http://my.barackobama.com/page/m/6f13f7c6bba3c695/ph9VDF/VEsH/

A very interesting clip. Inform yourself and make the right decision.

[stn_sage]

Democrats have led voter registration for nearly a hundred years now. Wonder what happens between the time someone registers and the time they vote?
Apparently they inform themselves, make their own decisions and vote their own values and beliefs.

Posted by ragnar30066 at 04:01 PM : Sep 06, 2008
---------------------
Some do. But that''s not how RethugliCONs have won the past two presidential elections and various senate and house seats! It has more to do, with:

1. voting machine fraud-adding votes to CON side.

2. posting flyers misinforming public when vote is.

3. CON affiliated officials shifting voting machines away fm highly Dem areas so there''s 300 people waiting to use 2 machines!

4. refusing to allow people to vote the day of the election by claiming they''re not on rolls, when they are!

5. calling up the elderly, finding out how they''re going to vote, tell them a car will pick them up just prior to poll closing, then sending no one!

6. probable bribery; the voting machines in two counties going down just prior to poll closing time in any state where the vote is close! The final count then magically favoring the THUG candidate when the Dem candidate had been leading!

There are other CON techniques but these are MY personal favorites! I think YOU get my point! :)

[gop_fornever]

i''m voting in 2 states for obama!

[abomination-]

Please cry with Hillary? She needs our comfort!

[abomination-]

Black child in the city, running wild looking pretty.

Please cry with Hillary? She needs our comfort!

[abomination-]

I Obama Hussein am a black child of a typical white grandmother, typical meaning she feared blacks. I Obama Hussein whos face will be kept off the dollar bill because of white people. I Obama Hussein who never even manage a hamburger joint. I wished that I had this way I could of told them all that I had executive experience!

[libsluv2spit]

democrats are so determined to win even the dead would vote *wink wink*

[mommakat64]

Out here in Portland, OR., the Dems line up the elderly in nursing homes and "help" them vote. They also have registration parties with illegals(undocumenteds)...and they will pick them up to show them how to vote. In Seattle, WA., Dems just kept asking for recounts(and finding more Dem votes)until Chrissy Gregoire won...by 128 votes, after 4 counts. She broke the state Dem party''s bank...left them broke with her recounts. And, when you talk about shady dealings, scams and cheating, just take a look at the Democratic "Chicago Machine"...makes the Mafia look like choir boys.

[joker1944-2009]

''Since 2006, the Democrats have added 2.1 million voters in the 28 states that registered voters by party affiliation in both 2006 and today. The Republicans have lost nearly 344,000 voters in the same states.''

And that''s a trend that''s going to continue as older, white America is replaced.