Post by Arch on Oct 7, 2010 0:20:41 GMT -6
Democrats Wonder if Legal Pot on State Ballots Will Fire Up Young Voters in 2012
Christopher Weber
Subscribe :Democratic strategists think they know what will lure young, liberal voters to the polls in 2012: legal pot, or at least the potential for it.
A ballot initiative that would legalize marijuana in certain quantities has fired up 20-somethings in California, and as a result Democrats are considering pushing for similar measures in swing states two years from now, The Wall Street Journal reported.
A coalition of pot advocates and left-leaning political groups are testing the waters for marijuana legalization in Colorado and Washington state, and they're considering doing the same in Nevada. All three of those states could be key to President Obama's re-election.
The Journal points out that ballot measures don't generally boost voter turnout on a large scale, but in very close elections any number of new voters can be significant.
Pollsters look to 2004, when Republicans pushed state-level initiatives to ban gay marriage in 11 states. Conservatives say that measure in Ohio may have brought enough GOP voters to the polls to hand George W. Bush a razor-thin victory.
A recent poll in California found a quarter of Democrats said they were "extremely interested" in voting in this year's elections for governor and senator. When told about the marijuana initiative, the number hit 38 percent, Democratic pollster Anna Greenberg told the Journal. The survey found no effect on Republican turnout.
"Moving forward, these kinds of initiatives could have a coattail effect for Democratic candidates," Greenberg told the newspaper.
Christopher Weber
Subscribe :Democratic strategists think they know what will lure young, liberal voters to the polls in 2012: legal pot, or at least the potential for it.
A ballot initiative that would legalize marijuana in certain quantities has fired up 20-somethings in California, and as a result Democrats are considering pushing for similar measures in swing states two years from now, The Wall Street Journal reported.
A coalition of pot advocates and left-leaning political groups are testing the waters for marijuana legalization in Colorado and Washington state, and they're considering doing the same in Nevada. All three of those states could be key to President Obama's re-election.
The Journal points out that ballot measures don't generally boost voter turnout on a large scale, but in very close elections any number of new voters can be significant.
Pollsters look to 2004, when Republicans pushed state-level initiatives to ban gay marriage in 11 states. Conservatives say that measure in Ohio may have brought enough GOP voters to the polls to hand George W. Bush a razor-thin victory.
A recent poll in California found a quarter of Democrats said they were "extremely interested" in voting in this year's elections for governor and senator. When told about the marijuana initiative, the number hit 38 percent, Democratic pollster Anna Greenberg told the Journal. The survey found no effect on Republican turnout.
"Moving forward, these kinds of initiatives could have a coattail effect for Democratic candidates," Greenberg told the newspaper.
