OK one thing is clear Obama and HRC are bringing out the voters. The turnout numbers are breaking numbers left and right. It doesn’t seem the GOP is exciting much of anyone.
Lets say Obama is the nominee. If record tun out continues into the general election and many new young and open minded voters get out, will wee see more “open minded” props pass?
Are the new voters turning out likely to vote for legal marijuana and gay marriage and other such props? I saw more people turn out for the Democratic Caucasus in favor of Obama my area than I think voted in the 2004 general election. I LIVE IN ALASKA A RED STATE DELUXE. They would have all voted in favor of a drastic legalization measure that is always on the ballot yet always fails by a smallish margin.
So what is the best guess on Obama his voters and the effect on November props?
If by “props” you mean ballot propositions, those are state-level events. So it depends on the state.
I can see some hard core reactionary rightists in reactionary states putting up propositions whose appeal amounts to “Last chance to amend the state law to prevent the giveaway of our sacred _________ by the evil soon-to-be-Muslim Feds”
I can also see leftists in left-heavy states trying to take advantage of momentum for favorite hardleft causes from gay marriage to guaranteed medical care or so-called “living wage” laws.
Ref Direct democracy - Wikipedia then under the bullet starting with “Statute law initiative”, ballot propostions are used in only 21 of the 50 states. The list is Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Idaho, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Washington and Wyoming. The only really large state in the list is California.
So for the large majority of the population, your question is moot; they don’t / won’t have ballot propostions at all.
I did not realize that it was limited to certain states.
21 states out of 50 is not exactly moot though. Granted they are smallish states is even 5 of them legalized gay marriage that would be big. If 3 decriminalized marijuana that would also be big.
That is a long list that Obama’s inspiration may effect. Hell just him being on the ticket could effect more change than he may be capable of in the White House.
I am just noticing the large numbers of young voters and think that it will effect the ballot propositions in my state. Probably in a huge way. With our 2 electoral votes and our time zone we usually know who will be the president before we even get to the polls. And as far as I know Alaska has voted republican every time except once.
So many don’t even vote. Seeing what he did in Alaska and some other states the type of crowds he brought out would lead me to believe that he will have a major impact on the ballot propositions.