Tuesday, November 07, 2006

Who does high turnout help?

I've been thinking over which candidates would benefit from high overall turnout. While any candidate benefits by getting his or her supporters to the polls, certain campaigns would seem to gain disproportionately. Why? Because the other side was relying on superior enthusiasm to win. If unhappy constituents vote anyway, that advantage disappears. In no particular order, here are 6 races where I think this could be a factor:

CT-Sen: Lamont's only hope is that his base cares a lot more than Lieberman's base, so high turnout across the spectrum favors Joementum.

CT-House: The moderate Republican incumbents (Shays et al) would all benefit from the same factors that would help Lieberman, though it's unclear whether it can save them.

VA-Sen: The Democrats significantly outperformed expectations in the hardfought 2005 Gov. election, pointing to a stronger apparatus in close races with motivated voters. A good sign for Webb.

RI-Sen: Whitehouse is counting on Republicans not coming out to vote for the very liberal Chafee. If Republicans vote anyway, Whitehouse could be in trouble.

NY-26: Disgust at Tom Reynolds endangered this once safe Republican seat. Again, if the electorate turns out anyway, he's coming back to DC.

MT-Sen: Same dynamic helping Burns. Tester needs the Republican base to stay home if he is to pull this one off.

--Barry Caro

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