What Happens When A Primary Actually Means Something?
For years Democrats were left to ponder such deep philosophical questions as, “If I vote in a Presidential primary, and the winner has already been decided, is it still voting?”
This year is very different though. Democrats appear to have fallen “butt backwards” into a little luck.
At the midway point of Early Voting, turnout is up everywhere. In Travis County, the number of voters going to the polls over the first four days matched the entire early vote total from 2004, when George W. Bush and John Kerry were already the presumptive nominees.
Democrats are outvoting Republicans statewide by more than three-to-one. In Travis County, it’s five-to-one. Unprecedented.
No one knows how all these voters, many of them with no previous primary voting history, will affect hot local races such as State Rep. Dawnna Dukes’ battle with challenger Brian Thompson or the four-way race to replace retiring District Attorney Ronnie Earle.
We have our own opinions, but who needs more hot air? There seems to be plenty to go around right now.
Posted on February 25, 2008 – 9:21 am by APR