Did Fox News kill Republican turnout?

[techs]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mark-cuban/fox-news-election-coverage_b_2092510.html

Mark Cuban, of all people, brings up an interesting point:

"I truly believe that supporters of Romney that watched Fox News thought it was a no-brainer and that Governor Romney would win.

....huge problem for Fox and as a result Governor Romney is that they didn't know the Dancing with the Stars bottom two principle. You would think that when one of the couples on DWTS is in the bottom two, thats a horrible sign. It must mean they are close to elimination. Not for couples with a large voting base. When you have a large voting base and find yourself in the bottom two, your voting base recognizes that you are at risk of losing. Because they want you to stay on the show and voting counts as much as the dancing, they will step up and vote and keep you on the show until you find yourself up against couples that have a bigger voting base than you"



Basically he is saying that Fox News's huge audience was told the election was in the bag for Romney which killed Republican turnout while at the same time those who were for Obama felt they had to rush out and vote.

Damn. It was so obvious and yet I haven't heard anyone talk about his.

 

[dank69]

I'm willing to bet that Republican turnout was at an all time high. It is their base that is dwindling.

 

[Genx87]

Really? Turnout was lower for Romney by 2 million. It was 9 million lower for Obama when compared to the 2008 election. I think overall there wasnt as much interest in this election on both sides of the aisle.

 

[bignateyk]

I thought turnout on both sides was at record highs?

 

[techs]

I'm willing to bet that Republican turnout was at an all time high. It is their base that is dwindling.

Time has a liberal bias?

 

[Phanuel]

Progress has a liberal bias, yes.

 

[dank69]

Really? Turnout was lower for Romney by 2 million. It was 9 million lower for Obama when compared to the 2008 election. I think overall there wasnt as much interest in this election on both sides of the aisle.

I'm talking about as a percentage of people who self identify as Republican. I suspect the raw number is down because the base is smaller.

 

[Genx87]

I thought turnout on both sides was at record highs?

I have heard this line as well but look at the voter turnouts. They dropped about 11 million from 08.

 

[child of wonder]

Obama's supporters don't work so they had nothing to keep them from voting while Romney supporters have jobs so they couldn't make it to the polls.

Duh.

 

[dullard]

I thought turnout on both sides was at record highs?

Romney had 2 million fewer votes than McCain who had 2 million fewer votes than Bush in 2004. With more people and more retirees, that is a troubling tend.

Obama had the two highest democrat votes in history, by far. 2012 looks to be about 8 million votes less than 2008 due to less enthusiasm and due to hurrcane Sandy hitting the Democrat's stronghold.

But votes are still coming in on both sides. Final tallies won't be known for a couple of weeks.

 

[techs]

Romney had 2 million fewer votes than McCain who had 2 million fewer votes than Bush in 2004. With more people and more retirees, that is a troubling tend.

Obama had the two highest democrat votes in history, by far. 2012 looks to be about 8 million votes less than 2008 due to less enthusiasm and due to hurrcane Sandy hitting the Democrat's stronghold.

But votes are still coming in on both sides. Final tallies won't be known for a couple of weeks.

Those are good points.
Especially so because back in 2008 there was a huge lack of Republican fire. After Bush many Republicans sat out 2008 and McCain was never a big motivator of turnout. This year, after 4 years of Obama, the Republicans seemed unbelievably fired up. I would have definitely expected a huge turnout, far larger than 2008.
Perhaps the Republicans have reached the limit of their turnout and its just going down as party members die off.

 

[trenchfoot]

Obama's supporters don't work so they had nothing to keep them from voting while Romney supporters have jobs so they couldn't make it to the polls.

Duh.

I bet you heard Michelle Bachmann make that comment on FOX news?

 

[child of wonder]

I bet you heard Michelle Bachmann make that comment on FOX news?

Republicans are hard working, decent, Christian people while Democrats are lazy, unemployed, atheist moochers.

Everyone knows this.

 

[Lemon law]

We somewhat forget the Gary Johnson and the libertarians pulled in 1% of the US votes, and that accounts for 16 million votes or so votes not going to the two major parties.

 

[techs]

We somewhat forget the Gary Johnson and the libertarians pulled in 1% of the US votes, and that accounts for 16 million votes or so votes not going to the two major parties.

Math fail:
On November 6, 2012, Johnson received 1% of the popular vote in the general election, amounting to over 1.1 million votes.