# The Democrats Emergency Thread

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-democrats-emergency-thread/843006>\
**Category:** Politics & Elections\
**Created:** [November 5, 2019, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-democrats-emergency-thread/843006 "2019-11-05T01:12:28Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 8

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**Author:** ![FlikTheBlue](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fliktheblue/32/10972_2.png) [@FlikTheBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlikTheBlue)\
**Post date:** [November 15, 2019, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-democrats-emergency-thread/843006/141 "2019-11-15T15:53:32Z")

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> [@RTFirefly](#):
>
> One word:\*\* turnout\*\*.
> 
> Why would potential Democratic voters be more likely to turn out in massively high numbers in Virginia in 2019 than potential Democratic voters in Michigan or Wisconsin would in 2020? I can’t think of one.
> 
> In a polarized political environment, getting your prospective voters to be actual voters is the name of the game. That’s what happened in Virginia in 2017 and 2018 and 2019, and in most of the rest of the country in 2018. Looks awfully likely to happen again in 2020.

It’s more a matter of demographics than energizing the electorate. My guess is the reason some states are becoming more blue and others more red is due to changes in demographics rather than individual voters changing their minds. It’s not that Republicans in Virginia are becoming more liberal, or that Democrats in Wisconsin are becoming more conservative. It’s more likely that liberal people are moving out of states like Wisconsin, Michigan, and Minnesota (D’s need to pay close attention there) and moving into places like Virginia (and Texas and Georgia but not yet in enough numbers to flip them). Either that or conservatives moving in the opposite direction or a combination of the two. Dealing with the issue of having a smaller slice of the electorate (Wisconsin problems) is different than energizing a larger base (Virginia problems). The latter seems to be an easier problem to solve.

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**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\
**Post date:** [November 15, 2019, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-democrats-emergency-thread/843006/142 "2019-11-15T15:57:06Z")

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> [@RTFirefly](#):
>
> Got anything useful to say?
> 
> I mean, “I don’t like Democrats” may accurately describe where you’re coming from, but it really isn’t much of a contribution to the discussion.

It’s possible I might be mistaken here, but I don’t think that’s where **Sunny Daze** is coming from.

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**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\
**Post date:** [November 15, 2019, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-democrats-emergency-thread/843006/143 "2019-11-15T16:21:18Z")

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> [@HurricaneDitka](#):
>
> It’s possible I might be mistaken here, but I don’t think that’s where **Sunny Daze** is coming from.

Heh, I agree with you. First time for everything, I guess.🙂

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