It's the turnout, *&$%$#!
The Seattle Times: Nation & World: Exit poll looks behind the voting
Well, I haven't read all the stories and I don't want to - but the major ones in the NYT and Reuters and others seem to miss what I think is one of the most significant things that happened in New Hampshire yesterday - 200,000 people turned out to vote!
The NYT didn't mention turnout until the end of their story, then didn't say how many. Buried deep in the Reuters story we learn this is a record. But I'm quite sure I heard on CNN last night that it was not only a record, but the previous largest was in 1992 and was about 150,000.
If so, that's a huge breaking of the record and what's more, almost half of those people were independents!
The battleground in any election is for the middle - the independents. So to me this is a signbificant indicator that a lot of people are upset with George Bush and what he and his old buddies are doing to this country. That's the sort of think you can take to the bank in November!
I'm sure somewhere, someone of the thousands covering this event will notice this - or has noticed this. But whether they do or not, I find it the most cheering stat of the night - and it's also why I think John Kerry is the most electable of Democrats.
For other reasons read the succinct AP story linked above on exit poll results.
Posted by Greg Stone at January 28, 2004 04:59 AM
