Irony, thy name is RPV.
You remember the ill-fated Loyalty Oath put into place by the Republican Party of Virginia, requiring any voter interested in voting in the Republican Primary. The Loyalty Oath would require participants to declare they were a Republican (independents and right-leaning Dems be damned!), with an half-assed attempt of voter information gathering, requesting emails and phone numbers.
After a revolt from Republicans across ideologies statewide, and after coming to the realization that they wouldn’t be able to access say voter information during the cycle (something pointed out to them from the outset), RPV quickly backtracked, formally requesting the State Board of Elections to remove the Loyalty Oath, but only after absentee voting had already started. After a public hearing in which RPV was made to look incompetent (rightly), SBE allowed RPV to back out of the Loyalty Oath.
Fast forward a month later, and in Virginia last night on Super Tuesday, over ONE MILLION people participating in the Republican Party’s primary, where Donald Trump defeated Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz, John Kasich and Ben Carson, winning 17 delegates to Rubio’s 16.
And in case you didn’t do the math yourself as the candidate voting totals came out, RPV was way, way, way too happy to share those numbers all night and all day today.
Really? No one? @VA_GOP candidates received 239,281 more votes than the Democrats candidates #EnthusiasmGap https://t.co/6OTfotn8bM
— Virginia GOP (RPV) (@VA_GOP) March 2, 2016
Here's another way to express it. OK, we know he says "dollars" but use your imagination and think "voters". pic.twitter.com/cU6Lr4YWjI
— Virginia GOP (RPV) (@VA_GOP) March 2, 2016
Talk about tone-deaf.
I mean seriously, RPV, I get the enthusiasm, but let’s be real. With over one million voters, by requiring a Loyalty Oath, we were looking at disenfranchising more than 300,000 voters in Virginia. Thank God State Central came to their senses and forced RPV’s hand, but it never should have come to that. No one could have looked at the Loyalty Oath and said to themselves: “Hm, this looks like a great idea!’ It was a half-assed attempt at gathering voter data (which was never going to happen), while refusing to allow any right-leaning Dems and independents (35%, give or take a few, of Commonwealth voters) to participate in the process.
It’s not hard to understand, either support closed primaries, or get out of the way. The Loyalty Oath/poll tax requirement that RPV implemented, got (justifiably) blasted for doing, then still took more than three months to come to their senses and back out of it with their tail between their legs, was a complete joke. Let it die, bury it, and leave it there. It should never be heard from again.
But HEY! ONE MILLION VOTES FOR REPUBLICANS! (we didn’t want 337,288 of you to participate, but still) RECORD TURNOUT!!
Oh, and RPV, the Commonwealth (and your party members) are still waiting on that $60,000 you promised to pay SBE for instituting this whole inept process.
Here’s the RPV press release on Virginia’s Republican Primary turnout:
Memo
To: Interested Parties
From: Executive Director John Findlay
Date: March 2, 2016
Re: A Massive Enthusiasm GapMore than a million.
That’s how many people came out to vote in yesterday’s Virginia GOP presidential primary, setting a new record for turnout in the process. This wave of enthusiasm smashed the previous high set by the Democrats in 2008.
More than 1 million voters cast a Republican ballot this year, more than doubling the number who voted in both 2008 and 2012 GOP primaries. Meanwhile, Democratic turnout fell significantly compared to their 2008 performance. Nearly 240,000 more voters chose to cast a ballot for Republican candidates versus Hillary or Bernie. Talk about an enthusiasm gap!
There’s more terrible news for Democrats in yesterday’s turnout numbers. Not only did Republicans turn out more primary voters than Democrats by a wide margin, they did it almost every across the Commonwealth, including key swing cities and counties like Loudoun, Prince William, Henrico, Chesapeake, and Montgomery. The road to the White House runs through these localities – and Republican candidates had more votes on Tuesday than Democrats in each and every one of them.
In addition, Democrat turnout was down significantly in blue strongholds like Richmond and Arlington, especially compared to the new highs set in every city and county in the Republican primary
Our base is excited for November, and the Democrats are not.
The news is particularly bad for LuAnn Bennett, the D.C. resident currently trying to convince voters that she actually lives in the 10th Congressional District. Republicans turned out in the 10th District in force, outnumbering Democrats by some 25,000 voters.Previously, Democrats have been making a lot of noise about how they’re going to make serious plays for open seats in the 5th and 2nd Congressional districts this year. Last night’s turnout numbers make it clear that Democrats will be tilting at windmills. In the 5th District, GOP turnout was 60 percent higher than Democrat turnout. In the 2nd District, it was 40 percent higher.
Republicans have all the momentum in Virginia at all levels. Virginians are sick and tired of President Obama’s policies, and they’re ready for a Republican in the White House.
The writing is on the wall, and the numbers don’t lie. If Democrats in Virginia aren’t scared now, they will be terrified by the results in November.
