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%

[robert6781]

In an interview with Stephanopolous this weekend, Obama slipped and said "my Muslim faith" and Stephie had to correct him.

Now Obama says that he considered joining the military after high school, although he''s NEVER mentioned it before and never mentioned it in his 2 memoirs.

Now Obama says he is considering delaying rescinding Bush''''s tax cuts if the economy doesn''t improve. What''s this? a LIBERAL admitting that high taxes hurt the economy and lower taxes HELP the economy?

Now he says he was too flip with his "that''s above my pay grade" abortion comment.

Perhaps Obama wants to apoligize to Bill for not choosing Hillary over Biden- and back track yet again on what he meant to do, meant to say- meant to imply.

The poor sap just doesn''t make the grade to lead anything- He is not Presidential in any form. He is more and more like Bush than most realize.

[robert6781]

Catty and vicious comments on Palin prove what I''''ve always known. Women are women''''s worst enemies.


During my past ten years as an op-ed columnist, I''''ve been fortunate to have met many of Palin''''s counterparts. They are successful, pro-life and strong with very supportive husbands who are not intimidated by their wives'''' political acumen. In addition whenever I''''ve met them in a personal situation, they''''ve amazed me with how well they''''ve handled the challenges in their family, such as severely disabled children or parents with Alzheimer''''s.


What Sarah Palin brings to the national scale is a glimpse into the lives of the real women of America. There are more women who resemble her than resemble the Steinems or the Quinns. One young woman, who faced an unplanned pregnancy, kept the child and married the father, told me that she never thought she would ever see someone like Palin in such a high office. "She''''s someone I could really relate to, "she said, "because she shares my own values."

[betty2700635]

they will vote for McCain,by the way I have met many mature *** women on --B O O M E R C U P I D .COM/--boomercupid has become more and more populer for meeting mature men and women

[trrrorislami]

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=OBAMA+CRACK COCAINE USE

IS HUSSEIN STILL A CRACKHEAD???

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=OBAMA CRACKHEAD

and the DEMONIC-RATS want him to be president???

[trrrorislamh]

OMG HUSSEIN IS GAY AND WAS STILL ABUSING COCAINE,,,

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bUNEip42xsM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uw2hc05HwPw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uQ13qyFup98

[jtomcbsn]

To those making serious statements provide references (links) to backup your position. This will help reduce "noise" and conserve bandwidth. Thanks everyone for sharing your views. Its important we hear all sides before reaching a conclusion.

"In medio stat virtus" - virtue stands in the middle. Any time things go too far to the right (as we now have with unregulated free markets, wealth inequality, and hegemonism) we the stakeholders have to bring the pendulum back to the center. Obama is part of the checks and balances that will correct this out of balance situation caused by the ruling party of the last 8 years. After Obama has served his term if things have gone too far to the left, you can be sure the people will bring back the Republications. That is the nature of true, working democracies.

[mr2258]

Democrats are leading in voter registration---They will be voting for McCain/Palin...

[misha128-2009]

John McCain%u2019s for change? CHANGE, are you kidding me?

Posted by zaqxsw11 at 07:44 AM

McCain and Palin both want to change the names on the office doors of the President and Vice President.

That''s Change -- sort of -- Maybe not - it has to happen even if they lose.

[misha128-2009]

Interesting to note that cBS has nothing on the Zobgy Poll (which historically has been the most accurate) that has McCain up by 4% hmmmmmm.

Posted by bretster7 at 11:15 AM

How does zogby compare to the betters I heard they were really accurate?

[bretster7]

Interesting to note that cBS has nothing on the Zobgy Poll (which historically has been the most accurate) that has McCain up by 4% hmmmmmm.

And this is even before the debates when both Biden and Obama will be shown for the frauds they are.

With all the dirt being broughtup on Palin by the MSM, and they are still up by 4%. Imagine if the truth about ACORN,Ayers, Rezco, and all the other skeletons in Obama''s closet, were to be revealed, it would be a double digit lead.

[blindhowlin]

I, for one, believe McCain/Palin, it is time for change and reform. That''s why I''m voting for Obama!

Republican for Obama!

[ariel133]

The media have so far focused on uncovering personal faults in Alaska Governor Sarah Palin and her family. As opposed to covering her record in expanding employment opportunities for Alaskans, while delivering energy to the rest of the nation. As mayor of Wasilla, she delivered growth and jobs, as she continued to do governor.



What exactly has Barack Obama done for his constituents when it comes to jobs? Aside from the feckless grants he gave to ineffective programs that failed to improve the education of Chicago public schools students.


The unemployment rate in Chicago is 7.5 % as of August 21st, far above the national average.
What is Obama doing about un-employment in Chicago?


Democrats prove, once again, they really ''don''t get it"

[trrrorislamg]

HMMM DOES HUSSEIN LOOK GAY,,,

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bUNEip42xsM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uw2hc05HwPw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uQ13qyFup98

[trrrorislamg]

SARAH PALIN IS JUST LIKE US,,, HUSSEIN IS NOT,,,

HUSSEIN MORE FOREIGN THAN AMERICAN,,, EVEN ALIEN,,,

Obama''s DNC Message: I''m Like You
CBSNews.com Reports: Democrats To Push Obama%u2019s Similarities With Average Americans

righttttttttttt

HUSSEIN puts foreigns ahead of americans,,,

how many non-muslim americans have a syrian born tony rezko helping you buy a multi million dollar house???

how many non-muslim americans travelled to pakistan for spring break???

how many non-muslim americans say the muslim call to prayer is the prettiests sounds on earth at sunset???

how many americans want to have to learn spanish???

how many americans want to give tens of millions of illegals amnesty???

how many americans want open borders???

how many americans want to send one trillion of their taxpayer dollars to kenya???

how many americans want to spend their taxpayer dollars on slavery reparations when they already paid via the civil war with their blood???

how many americans and their spouse get preferential treatment to go to HARVARD???

hmmmmm manchurian candidate maybe,,, hmmmm

[trrrorislamg]

Posted by IDNNSG at 07:26 AM : Sep 07, 2008

here is your RACIST BIGOT LIAR nancy,,,

THE REAL HUSSEIN, HIS REAL HATE OF WHITEY, HIS REAL RACISM

FROM HIS OWN MOUTH

Wright / Obama: "White Folk''s Greed Runs A World In Need"

MALCOLM-O-BAMA LAUDS MALCOLM-X

HUSSEIN THE MARXISTS

HUSSEIN THE RACIST
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mfC4OOm1aoM
There''s only two kinds of white folks, there''s only two kinds, bad white folks and worse white folks. That''s the only two kinds of white folks there are. Malcolm X, used to say, from the teachings of the nation of terrorislam founder Elijah Muhammad, that all white folks are bad. He said if you find one good, kill him first before he turns bad. Because he''s only faking.
http://www.splcenter.org/intel/intelreport/article.jsp?sid=169

SHOCKING Obama words: what he really thinks of white folks
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lI77cU3jsFs

The shocking video Barack Obama does not want you to see!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Prhnc2fxAzg

Barack Obama''s Black Liberation Theology
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=928_TLwSl1I

Black Liberation Theology - Short Course
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f23KB8rFdKk

Will Obama Denounce and Reject Black Liberation Theology?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZQGSAmqOH4

The Audacity of Hate - Barack Obama''s Racist Church
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pbBC5909lK8

The video Barack Obama does not want you to see!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cLOzEHERzAQ

[idnnsg]

trrrorislam[g/whatever] is a broken record-- always whining about islam, always making up LIES about Obama. trrrorislamg is a blatant racist, and a paid political operative, full of c.r.@p.

Today, trrrorislamg brings us a new load of c.r.@p. This article which makes it abundantly clear that his beloved repug party-- the party that gave us the last 8 years of lies, torture, war crimes, job loss, bankruptcy and loss of the world''s respect --is dwindling in size and influence, and will inevitably lose the upcoming election. What does he give us in response? He tells us that the decrepit old white folks at the repug convention were "wowed" by the speech his darling little end-timer secessionist girl-friend memorized. Oooooh! She memorized a speech (and gave the same EXACT speech the next time McCain trotter her out).

I seem to recall that the repugs all claim that the ability to give pretty speeches does not make a good president (or VP, obviously, since the VP''s main job is to replace the Pres when he dies)! Whenever Obama gives a good speech, the repugs complain. When Palin gives a "good speech" (it really was just a hatchet job, not a good speech, because she offered no solutions to our country''s problems), then suddenly the repugs claim that''s a "good thing"!

Hypocrites and liars (and criminals!) -- that''s what the repugs have become.

[trrrorislamg]

HUSSEIN THINKS YOU ARE STUPID,,,

HUSSEIN CANNOT CLOSE THE DEAL,,, lol

hahaha

Why Obama Can''t Close the Sale
By AL HUBBARD and NOAM NEUSNER
September 3, 2008; Page A23

Even before John McCain shook up the presidential race by tapping Gov. Sarah Palin to be his running mate, polls weren''''t showing the late-August lead that Barack Obama (and many Republicans) expected. Why so?

It''''s not because of the brilliance of the McCain campaign. Rather we believe that -- despite the media''''s best efforts to exempt Mr. Obama''''s policies from critical examination -- American voters aren''''t sheep. They pay attention to the candidates and positions and make wise decisions about who should lead the country.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122039919493892941.html?mod=opinion_main_commentaries

BOUNCE HUSSEIN BOUNCE

hahaha

The latest nationwide survey, begun Friday afternoon after the McCain announcement of Palin as running mate and completed mid-afternoon today, shows McCain/Palin at 47%, compared to 45% support for Obama/Biden.

http://www.zogby.com/news/ReadNews1547.html

8/30/2008

Zogby Poll: Equilibrium in the POTUS Race!

Brash McCain pick of AK Gov. Palin neutralizes historic Obama speech, stunts the Dems'' convention bounce

[trrrorislamg]

A TIME-WARPED SEXIST ASSAULT

HOLY hoop skirts: When did the clock tick back to 1958?



When Joe Biden tragically lost his wife and infant daughter in a car wreck in 1972, not a single colleague, friend or competitor advised him to quit his newly won Senate seat to raise his two little surviving sons.



Rather, he was sworn into office from the injured boys'' bedside, and took to commuting an hour and a half each way from Delaware to Washington. And when Biden''s second wife gave birth to a daughter, no one thought to ask him to step aside and stay home.

http://www.nypost.com/seven/09032008/postopinion/opedcolumnists/a_time_warped_sexist_assault_127183.htm

[trrrorislamg]

BREAKING: Sarah Palin "Winged" Her Speech Because of "Broken" Teleprompter
Halfway through Sarah Palin''s speech tonight at the RNC, people following the speech noticed she was deviating from the prepared text.
According to sources close to the McCain campaign, the teleprompter continued scrolling during applause breaks. As a result, half way through the speech, the speech had scrolled significantly from where Governor Palin was in the speech. The malfunction also occurred during Rudy Giuliani''s speech, explaining his significant deviations from his speech.
Unfazed, Governor Palin continued, from memory, to deliver her speech without the teleprompter cued to the appropriate point in her speech.
Contrast this to Barack Obama who, when last his teleprompter malfunctioned, was left stuttering before a crowd unable to advance his speech until the problem was resolved.
Sarah Palin. Winner.
http://www.redstate.com/diaries/redstate/2008/sep/04/breaking-sarah-palin-winged-her-speech-bec/

[trrrorislamg]

PALIN WAS STUNNING,,,

Palin strikes back at critics

A WEEK ago nobody had ever heard of her.

Today she is the most talked-about woman in the world. And with good reason.

Sarah Palin''s sensational performance at the Republican Party Convention may turn out to be the tipping point of this rollercoaster American election.

Obama fans hoping she would fluff her big night were in for a nasty shock.

This speech has turned the election upside down. It was simply stunning.

Democrats and their Lefty media backers had been sneering that she was a small town nobody, a hick from the Alaskan sticks put into a job way beyond an inexperienced woman.

Believe me, you will not be hearing that again.

Palin turned out to be an electrifying mix of intelligence, passion, energy, optimism and plain speaking.

Full of self-assurance and aggression, she popped Barack''s balloon big-time.
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/columnists/fergus_shanahan/article1647092.ece