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Bill Clinton To Dems: We Need To Get Out And Vote

"Our side’s not used to voting in midterms. We gotta get used to it. There’s a lot at stake.” -- Bill Clinton

Looks like Bill Clinton will be out there, urging Dems to get out the vote in the Southern states. He's right, we're not used to turning out in the mid-terms and we have to change that. Greg Sargent at the Plum Line:

For the purposes of understanding this midterm election, the most important quote of the weekend by far comes from Bill Clinton, who said this while in Iowa yesterday:

“I’ve studied all the polls and I really believe that we’re still in a zone where they’re all real close and it depends on who decides to show. And our side’s not used to voting in midterms. We gotta get used to it. There’s a lot at stake.”

In that interview, Clinton suggested that this is particularly true of the Senate contests in southern states. Clinton said that Senator Mark Pryor could probably hang on in Arkansas “if we get the turnout.” And speaking about the contest between Dem Michelle Nunn and GOPer David Perdue, Clinton said that African Americans are “under-registered in Georgia” and added that if Dems “increase the number,” victory is possible even in that red state.

Clinton is right. It isn’t just that core Dem voter groups tend to drop off in midterms. It’s also that this time around, they don’t necessarily know what’s at stake in this election and why it should matter to them, as Dem focus grouping I reported on last week clearly shows. What’s more, as Nate Cohn recently demonstrated, for a variety of reasons, black voters are poised to play a pivotal and historic role in multiple Senate races in the south. If they turn out.

Now, if there were only a figure out there who is hugely popular among African Americans and has a real gift for explaining the stakes in elections.

Seriously, don’t be surprised if Clinton’s diagnosis is actually a preview of what’s to come. We very well may see Clinton doing a lot of targeted interviews and ads designed to boost turnout among core Democratic voter groups in Arkansas, Georgia, and in other southern state Senate races.

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