Yet, the claim that "Republicans are better at getting out the vote" is oft repeated. I don't have the means to evaluate that claim's supporting evidence, so AFAIK it could be total bullshit, but it seems that there would be someone somewhere disputing it if it didn't have some basis in reality.
well that's a true claim, but you're thinking about it wrong.
i've posted this a couple times before and i don't want to beat a dead horse or be mindlessly repeating myself, but i think it's incredibly salient to the point and i've not seen anyone respond to it as of yet, so:
for the last 50 odd years about 50-60% of the eligible voting public has voted in presidential elections, it's something like 120ish million people give or take. so that's your baseline presidential voting pool.
of those that vote it breaks down pretty much the same every election:
45% vote republican
45% vote democrat
10% shit their pants and call the feeling of it running down their leg "sticking it to the man by voting 3rd party"
now here is where presidential elections are determined:
election-to-election, 100% of your 45% may not come out to vote, depending on A. how popular your candidate is on this year's american idol, and B. how pissed off the opposing group is due to your guy having been in office for a while.
republicans are better than democrats at getting near to 100% of their 45% to come vote, especially in the mid-terms and such.
but, there's no untapped pool of people that normally don't vote that suddenly get up and vote because the republicans told them to - they're not better at voter registration or any sort of new voter systems, they just motivate their existing voter base with wedge issues and their bloc is simple minded enough to march in a horde over the 2-3 issues they trot out every year.
