WP, pg1: Electorate Is a Key Unknown ("hidden army of voters"?)

[DeepModem Mom]

Electorate Is a Key Unknown

By Dan Balz
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, October 24, 2004; Page A01


....The belief in a hidden army of voters stems from signs of voter interest in the election, registration figures reported by the states and confusion generated by a profusion of polls that sometimes appear sharply at odds with one another about the state of the presidential race....

***

The Bush campaign, led by White House senior adviser Karl Rove, consciously set out after 2000 to alter the shape of the electorate in 2004, hoping to narrow or eliminate what has been a historic Democratic advantage in party identification on Election Day. In the past three presidential elections, 35 percent of voters identified themselves as Republicans, while 38 percent to 39 percent said they were Democrats....

***

The GOP efforts, however, produced a counter effort among Democrats, fueled by strong anti-Bush sentiment. Democrats, aided by independent but allied groups such as America Coming Together and ACORN, mounted registration drives in cities, aimed at minority voters. Final figures are not available in all states, but the arms race in registration may have canceled out efforts on both sides, with an energized right clashing against an equally energized left.

"When we look at this after the election, we're going to look real hard at whether Rove succeeded in getting enough energy and enthusiasm among his voters but also whether he produced more anti-Bush voters than Bush voters," said Democratic pollster Stan Greenberg, a Kerry adviser.

There are several potentially significant voter blocs in this election. One consists of voters younger than 30, who normally turn out in numbers disproportionate to their large share of the population, but who have been the focus of great attention in this campaign....


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A56830-2004Oct23.html

[SoCalDem]

1. Rove should have knows that every action produces a REaction

Here's hoping ours is bigger than his:)

[DeepModem Mom]

3. Bigger, indeed!

[Demeter]

2. NO Hidden Voters--Just Blind Administration

They can't see us, because we are too many. We don't wave large amounts of greenbacks in their faces. We don't talk macho, we don't shoot up anybody, and we don't buy their propaganda. Therefore, we are invisible--until November 2. They'll be seeing a whole lot more than they ever did before. Hope they wet their pants.