|
archived: 11 - 17 Mar, 2007 Back Next UPDATED: March 14, 2007 BUSH’S ECONOMY TPJ features an article in Bush Watch today focusing on the growing rate of home foreclosures in the United States. Where does North Carolina stand? North Carolina posted 1,771 foreclosures in January 2007 or about one foreclosure for every 1,988 households statewide. . . . January 2007 foreclosures in North Carolina were up more than 40.5 percent from December 2006. North Carolina's foreclosure rate ranked 22nd highest among the 50 states, but was well below the national average of one foreclosure per every 886 households. Nationwide, more than 130,000 foreclosures were recorded in January 2007, up more than 25 percent from the same month a year earlier. North Carolina Democrats should be working with this issue. BOOMERS? The demographics of political power in North Carolina are fascinating. Scripps Howard News Service complied statistics by state on the political power of various generations of Americans. SHNS divided political leaders as follows: Percentage of state lawmakers (governor, state legislature, congressional delegation) who are members of the Greatest Generation (born 1906-1924); Silent Generation (1925-1945); baby boomers (1946-1964); or Generation X (1965-1983). The results for North Carolina: Greatest Generation 6 percent Silent Generation 46 percent Baby boomers 40 percent Generation X 8 percent North Carolina ranks low in the percentage Baby boomers holding elected office, just +1% higher than Idaho, the lowest percentage in the nation at 39%: Boomers are growing in dominance on state-level politics in most of the country. New Jersey is tops with boomer politicians commanding 66 percent of the state lawmaker posts. North Dakota, West Virginia, Rhode Island, and Utah also have high boomer numbers. . . . According to the Scripps study, Idaho is the single most boomer-free state in the country. Boomers make up only 39 percent of the state’s power. Also relatively boomer-free are Alabama and North Carolina. For progressive Democrats looking for explanations as to North Carolina’s conservative political tilt, here is one. North Carolina Democratic Party leaders are older with a lack of influx of younger, presumably more progressive leaders. The message for Democrats is to start recruiting a new generation. _____________________________________________ UPDATED: March 10, 2007 SAME DAY VOTER REGISTRATION Chris Kromm at Facing South authors a highly informative article on same day voter registration (SDVR) and the effort to enact legislation authorizing SDVR in North Carolina during this session of the General Assembly. Kromm’s major points:
In the 2006 U.S. elections
-- an "off year" but still marked by many competitive races -- just
over
55% of the voting-age public cast a ballot. Even accounting for
non-citizens and others not eligible to vote, the number only rises
to just over 60% -- a disturbing figure given that
Western European countries have averaged over 77% for 50 years.
. . . According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the six states with [Election Day Registration] -- Idaho, Maine, Minnesota, New Hampshire, Wisconsin, and Wyoming -- had an average turnout of 68 percent in the 2000 election, nearly 10 points higher than the national average.
In
2004, the turnout advantage in Election Day Registration states
jumped to almost 12% (pdf). . . .
TPJ supports SDVR in North Carolina as one of the key objectives for the Democratic Party in this session of the General Assembly. Please; write, call or speak with your Representatives and Senators and ask them to support SDVR. NO END The State Board of Elections has posted March 2007 voter registration numbers. The Democratic Party’s continuing slide in voter share continues. First, it should be carefully noted that local Boards of Elections are still conducing “list maintenance procedures.” Simply stated, voters who have not voted within a requisite period of time are removed from active voter rolls and are not reflected in voter registration statistics. As a result, the chart below shows some sizeable shifts downward for both Parties. Second, as Democrats have a larger percentage of voter registration in North Carolina, it should be expected that more Democrats than Republicans moving to inactive status. Third, with inactive voters removed from the active voter rolls, a truer picture of the actual strength of each Party and Independents can be measured. In analyzing the March data, it is obvious that Democratic share of voter registration has reached another low. While both Parties lost registration, Democrats lost more. Of some 5.485,627 voters in North Carolina, Democrats comprise 2,483,324; 45.26%, Republicans comprise 1,896,238 (34.57%) and Independents comprise 1106065 (20.16%). To date in 2007, Democrats have lost over 18,600 more voter registrations than Republicans have lost. The State Democratic Party has set voter registration objectives for every County for 2007. Until voter maintenance procedures are completed by the local Boards of Elections, it is impossible to measure the success of Democratic Party efforts to register new voters. Such analysis and evaluation will be possible several months hence. It is obvious however, that Democratic Party share of voter registration is at its lowest level in modern history, a trend that continues. We believe the March 2007 data, even accounting for “list maintenance,” reflects that Republican voter registration is relatively static. For both State and local Party organizations, the message remains clear. Democratic Party success in the future demands the utmost attention and commitment to voter registration efforts in 2007. The March 2007 data appears immediately below. TPJ’s full voter registration chart for 2007 can be found at this hyperlink: March 2007 Gain Loss
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||