The Empire Strikes Back

The Democrats are trying to learn from their mistakes in 2002 and raise Democratic voter turnout.

The DNC spent $1.4 million in 2002 for state voter files, including state databases for voters and donors. Since then, officials have fixed 27 million incorrect addresses and phone numbers, and removed 340,000 dead voters. McAuliffe said this will result in a one-time savings of $15 million in mailing costs alone for state party committees and the DNC.

Strange, I thought the dead were staunch Democrats. They are in Chicago anyway.

In all seriousness, it looks like the DNC is actually trying to do something about their electoral defeat – meaning that the GOP can ill-afford sitting around and doing nothing. The DNC realized that their strategy of attacking Bush and their failure to deliver their own message hurt them in 2002. They’re going to try to stay on message in 2004, and unless the GOP is willing to stand behind their principles, they cannot count on a repeat of 2002. In many ways, the GOP lucked out – now they have to prove that they can beat the Democrats at their own political game.