Blue Spot

Saw this at NO QUARTER.
Here's the article that Rubin referred to, by Dan Balz.

There is understandable concern among Democrats that the longer the battle between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton goes on, and the nastier it gets, the more split the party will be heading into the fall campaign. But news out of Pennsylvania overnight offers contrary evidence, suggesting this contest is good news for the Democrats.

Figures from Pennsylvania's Department of State showed that Democrats have now topped 4 million registered voters, the first time either party has crossed that threshold. Democrats added 161,000 to their rolls since last year's election, a gain of about 4 percent, while Republican registration dipped about 1 percent to 3.2 million.

That is consistent with the pattern since the beginning of the year in which Democratic turnout in the primaries and caucuses has topped Republican turnout, often by huge proportions.

In Ohio, 2.2 million voters participated in the Democratic primary compared with 1.1 million in the Republican primary. In Texas, 2.9 million voters turned out for the Democratic primary compared with 1.4 million in the Republican primary. Even in Florida, where the Republican primary was one of the most hotly contested of the year and the Democratic primary featured no active campaigning by the candidates, GOP turnout was only marginally higher: 1.9 million versus 1.7 million.

These turnout figures match what pollsters have found as they have surveyed the electorate throughout the year: The gap between Democratic and Republican identification has grown dramatically...
When the general election arrives, Democrats will have voter lists far larger than they ever imagined and will have to spend far less money than in past years identifying these voters. That will affect every candidate up and down the ballot.

Some Democratic strategists worry that a protracted nomination battle will put the eventual nominee months behind in putting state organizations into place for the general election. That's a real issue, given that in the recent cycles Democratic and Republican nominees have been able to name their state-by-state teams in the late spring and get them moving into place by early summer.

But the Democratic race may be producing an even more valuable asset for the fall, particularly when compared with John McCain's campaign. By the time this race is over, Clinton and Obama will have competed in almost every state in the country (Michigan and Florida being two potentially costly exceptions). They've been forced to organize these states in the winter and spring. They have identified and trained legions of organizers. They will know which of their state coordinators are the best and many of these staffers will already be familiar with some of the battleground states for the fall.

Labels: Election 2008, Hillary