[Mpls] Congratulations and Turnout

[Greg Abbott]

Congratulations to the winners, and I'd also extend thanks to the non- 
winners.  It is very hard to run for public office these days, even  
at the local level, and without people willing to do it democracy  
would suffer.

I have to chew on the results before I make any substantive comments  
about the election.  It's clear now 2001 was not an aberration caused  
by an unpopular incumbent - the city's voting patterns have changed.

Part of the turnout decline this year was due to Republicans and  
Independents staying home.  This may be a relatively permanent  
feature of the new political landscape, given how difficult it is for  
a Republican or Independent candidate to survive the open city-wide  
primary.

My other tentative theory is that the internet is becoming more and  
more effective for grassroots organizers to identify and motivate  
supporters, while at the same time, traditional media is becoming  
less and less interested in city issues.  The result is a noticeable  
increase in turnout amongst identified issue partisans, but a  
substantial decline in turnout in other voters who don't get enough  
information from radio, TV, newspapers, etc.

So we have lower turnout, but a higher concentration of voters who  
are left-leaning ideologues, motivated by issues and not so much by  
party or group affiliation.

But this is tentative, and there are many, many variables that go  
into election results.

Again congratulations and good luck to last night's winners.

Greg Abbott
Linden Hills