🚀 go-pugleaf

David A. Kaye (dk@crl.com) wrote:

: I was talking with the local Peace and Freedom Party director who gave me 
: this argument for a P&F vote.  No, they didn't think they could win 
: any/many elections, but by getting enough votes one or the other major 
: parties would have to sit up and take notice and move their platform a 
: little closer to their agenda.

: This may be the reason for the big upset this past election: I notice 
: that in many races where the Republicans won there were large numbers of 
: 3rd party votes which had formerly gone Democratic.  Maybe the Democratic 
: party will look around and see that the key to their survival is looking 
: less Republican and more progressive.

     Interesting point.  I haven't seen any statistics, but I wonder if
the big change from 1992 to 1994 was due more to people who voted
Democratic in 1992 and stayed home in 1994, and those who stayed home
in 1992 and voted Republican in 1994, than to those who voted in both
elections and switched from Democratic to Republican.  Does anybody
have any data on this?  With a turnout of about 38%, a comparatively
small number of NRA or Christian Coalition members can have a large
effect.
     I know that some of the interest groups that traditionally support
the Democrats--NAACP and environmentalists come to mind--were somewhat
disenchanted and may not have turned out in large numbers.  This was
quite deliberate and designed to show the Democrats how dependent they
were on these votes.  There are indeed now many unemployed former
Democratic representatives, senators, and state government officials,
but the only effect I see is the remaining Democrats moving swiftly
to the Right.
     Comments?
                                         Merlin Dorfman
                                         DORFMAN@NETCOM.COM