Sad stats on the Alabama primaries

[trof]

Statewide 24% of registered voters turned out.

I guess this means that if you could secure the support of 13% of the registered voters and could get them to come to the polls, YOU'RE IN!

In my precinct in BRIGHT red Baldwin county 26% of registered voters bothered.
Hey, it was raining.

67 of us voted Democratic ballots.
(Two of those were me and Miz t.)
743 voted Republican ballots.

Fuck it.
I give.

[bearsfootball516]

1. Alabama is still one of the deepest red states.

[Ferrets are Cool]

2. I can tell you what I heard trof...

the preliminaries don't matter. It matters in November.

[underthematrix]

3. Alabama Democrats won the US Senate seat by going stealth

Alabama's black women went stealth and let everyone say there's no game plan all the while they were walking talking registering and getting folks to the polls. Just sayin

[trof]

8. I wish this was true, but it's just not.

Doug Jones won because of Roy Moore.
Moore was toxic, even to (enough) red-red Alabamians.
They just stayed home on voting day.

If the repug nominee had been just about anyone else they would be the incumbent today.
The dems know it and the repugs know it.
Sad to say, but it's not the start of a 'blue wave' here.

[underthematrix]

13. Okay

[yallerdawg]

22. Moore was a beatable candidate before allegations came out.

Jones heavily campaigned for the black vote, the A.M.E vote, the black women's vote.

We can't win without them.

We can't win without everyone of us!

[yardwork]

4. I'm sorry.

[rownesheck]

5. move.

find somewhere else to live. Sorry, Alabama is gross. And I'm saying this living in rancid ass Texas. Also, I'm a jerk. Please punch me if you ever see me in public. I'll understand.

[tazkcmo]

9. Omg

Hilarious!

[trof]

10. Politics is about the only thing about Alabama that I DON'T like.

And politics ain't my life.
I was born and raised here.

I moved away for many years to pursue my career, but this is where I chose to retire.

It's my roots and my home and 'my people', for good or ill.

[LisaM]

26. I haven't been to Alabama, but I've been to North Carolina and Tennessee recently....

people tell me I shouldn't go down there, but too bad, I just love the South, and I always feel enormously happy when I'm there. (And when I was in North Carolina, granted, it was western North Carolina, just about every public bathroom I saw had signs on it saying it was very everybody).

[yallerdawg]

11. I lived in Texas. I live in Alabama.

All my Texas relatives visit us here!

We don't go there except for funerals - most appropriately.

[Lochloosa]

19. Texas is flat, brown and ugly. I don't get the attraction.

[yallerdawg]

20. I can only assume...

every bar at 2 AM looks about the same anywhere you go.

Even in Texas.

[davsand]

24. I voluntarily went on a vacation in Texas in July.

I remembered this quote every day of that two weeks:

If I owned Texas and Hell, I'd rent out Texas and live in Hell.

Philip Sheridan

Having said that, I thought the people that I met there were some of the most hospitable, generous folks I've ever met. The pit bull sized flying roaches and the wild hogs, however were every bit as off putting as the weather.



Laura

[LeftInTX]

29. Where I live in Texas, it is hilly

My county ranges from 517 ft above sea level to 2000 ft above sea level. I live in San Antonio.

Most of Texas is hilly. Our highest peaks are over 8,000 ft.

Not all of Texas is brown. The eastern part of the state averages 40-60 inches of rain per year.

[yallerdawg]

6. The definition of 'optimist!'

"A Democrat in Baldwin County, Alabama!"

You never know - you all may just turn a statewide election, so hang in there!

I believe some votes in Baldwin County swung the Siegelman election over to Riley that one time?

What goes around comes around.

[trof]

12. Read the whole story about the "Baldwin County Midnight Recount".

It's on the web.
That election was stolen right here in Baldwin County.

[Phoenix61]

7. I used to live in Fairhope

Met the only Klansman I've ever known there. It looked so pretty but insanely racist.

[yallerdawg]

14. Fairhope is very interesting.

The City Fairhope began as a dream in the minds of a group of individuals who were seeking their own special utopia. The first Single-Tax colonists (so called because of their belief in the economic theories of Henry George, who advocated no taxes other than a single land tax), looked at land throughout the South and Midwest before settling in 1894 on a high bluff overlooking Mobile Bay. According to legend, one of the group said the new colony had a fair hope of success, and the community of Fairhope was born. Based on a spirit of cooperative individualism, the Single Tax Colony attracted supporters and financial backers from around the country, drawing an eclectic assemblage of industrious, creative, and free-thinking people to Fairhope.

The City of Fairhope was established with around 500 residents in 1908, taking over responsibility for all municipal services. In the 1930s, the city became the caretaker of Fairhope's greatest assets, the beachfront park, the park lands on the bluff above the beach, Henry George Park, Knoll Park, and the quarter-mile long pier, all gifts of the Single Tax Colony, which continues to have an active presence in the city to this day.

Fairhope has always been a resort community, early visitors came by Bayboat from Mobile to vacation in the small bay cottages and hotels along the bluff top. Vacationers came to Fairhope in the early days for many of the same reasons they do today: its pleasant climate, peaceful surroundings, and inspiring scenery.

Over the years artists, writers, and craftsmen have found Fairhope to be an inspiring haven for their work and have helped to make the community what it is today.

http://www.cofairhope.com/about-us/history

[Phoenix61]

15. Yeah, I read that before I moved there

Talk about a rude awakening. Nice as long as you didn't dig too deep.

[Bettie]

16. So, why do people there vote against their interests (economically speaking at very least)?

Is it religion? Tradition? Racism?

Here in Iowa, it is a rancid combination of religion and "we've always voted for republicans", with a dollop of Reagan worship.

[yallerdawg]

17. After the 2010 elections, our state legislature...

became majority Republican for the first time in Alabama's history!

Before that, we had elected Democrats everywhere (southern "Democrats" to be sure, of course).

If you recall, in 2008 the nation elected...well, Alabama has a long history of you-know-what.

[Bettie]

18. Thanks for the answer

Iowa and Wisconsin used to be very different than they are today as well.

It is sad to see my home state of Wisconsin now.

[trof]

23. Ignorant and low information voters.

The state education system is in bad shape.
Underfunded, etc.
Most parents who can afford it put their kids into private schools.
Mainly 'christian academies'.

I talked to an acquaintance this morning about the low turnout.
He's a 'good ol' boy', if you get my drift.

Quote: "Kay Ivey (R. Gov) was the only name on the ballot that I knew so for the rest of the offices I just voted for the first one on the list for each office. Next time maybe I'll vote for the middle one. Haha."

Multiply that by a few million and that's what we got.

[bitterross]

21. Sorry you're stuck in that situation.

I feel for you. I got the hell out of the South when I could. Call me a coward for not sticking around to try and change things if you will. But it was a matter of mental and physical danger to stay.

[Whiskeytide]

25. Across the bay in Mobile ...

... it’s a little better. But it’s still Alabama.

But there could be a silver lining or two.

24% turnout in a county that’s probably 80-85% red might be a good thing if that holds for red voters in more competitive states.

And - I recall reading an AL.com article on new voter registration in October ‘16. New registrations were up big around the state. Normally that’s good for democrats. But I looked at the counties where it was highest - and Baldwin, along with Autauga and Shelby were near the top of the list. That worried me because I was pretty sure those were NOT people registering to vote for HRC. I posted here that I was afraid that was a bad sign if the same thing was happening in swing states. Turns out it was, because it was.

But my point is that Baldwin County puffed up its roles with a lot of Trumpers in the run up to 2016. If they are now staying home or have lost some interest, that’s fine by me.

[Comatose Sphagetti]

27. In my bright red rural Indiana precinct last month...

Over 3,000 voted republican. A little over 300 of us voted Dem.


Sigh.

[Baclava]

28. As opposed to California with 22% voter turnout?

'No offense, but I never vote.' Stunning apathy in the heart of California's Trump resistance

California voters had their chance to make a statement against Trump. They declined

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) —More than 4 million votes were counted Wednesday in California's primary election, representing a low turnout of roughly 22 percent of registered voters.

http://www.latimes.com/local/california/la-me-lopez-voting-apathy-20180605-story.html