Is 6% The Canary In The Coal Mine? Desperate Housewives Need To Know

Geez, I was depressed by Digby today. In a long entry discussing whether Feingold was right or wrong both strategically and tactically to introduce his censure, at the end Digby writes:

I said this yesterday and I'll repeat it. This image of "powerlessness" at a time when the Republicans are on the ropes is the biggest problem we face for the fall elections. If Democratic pols don't understand that they are flirting with terrible grassroots defeatism, then they are going to lose. They must take action (and I don't mean boring press conferences and 10 point plans) or it won't matter a damn if the Republicans are on the ropes --- demoralized Democrats are not going to bother with them. Come on. Speak for us. If not now, when?


Defeatism: acceptance and content with defeat without struggle. The term is commonly used in the context of war: a soldier can be a defeatist if he or she refuses to fight because he or she thinks that the fight will be lost for sure or that it is not worth fighting for some other reason.



I might just point out that in the few primaries so far, the Democrats have not had an exceptional turn-out. Maybe it means nothing. But it might also be a canary in the coal mine.

And I left this little comment:

You bet low turnout is a canary in the coal mine. In Bexar County, Texas, the turnout for both parties for the primary last week (and this number includes 10 days of early voting) was 6% - yes, 6% of registered voters. 6 freaking percent. We are tired, we have given up hope, and nobody is standing up for us, expecially not the Democrats. I think we have given up on Democracy and are settling for religion. Pretty soon we won't be able to choose our religion anymore, they will all be some variation of fundamentalist, whether Christianity, Islam or Judaism. Hell, even my Hindu next door neighbors are sending their 8th grader to a radical fundie "tradional" papolatrous Roman Catholic school for its "values".

So is low turnout the canary in the coal mine of the Republic? You tell me.