What happened to Democratic voter turnout?

The vote tallies are rolling in and CNN correspondents have stated the obvious, “the democrats are being shellacked in the House.”  As I sit here on my couch in a state of moderate shock, I’m left wondering: what happened to voter turnout this year?

I spoke with 5 friends today who said that they weren’t voting because they never got around to registering.  A few of them made the classic argument that their vote didn’t matter because they live in the Democratic stronghold of New York.  Others said they didn’t feel invested enough in the local races for state senate and justice positions to merit a trip to the polls. Each person expressed a lingering sense of guilt when we talked, but nothing strong enough to get their butts out of bed to cast that paper ballot.

This ‘my vote doesn’t matter’ sentiment is extremely problematic because it has led to a collective action problem in swing states and counties that switched from blue to red today.  I would even argue that having high voter turnout in a state like New York is important because it creates momentum from an ideological and fundraising perspective that can create ‘political will’ for the ensuing months when Congress has to actually work together to pass legislation.

We – the young Democrats in America – should know better than to think that someone else is going to cast ballots on the issues that we care about.  We need to show up if we want to change the agenda on social and economic issues like promoting gay rights, reducing public debt and strengthening the healthcare system.  Let’s not forget that 63% of eligible voters showed up to cast ballots 2 years ago, ½ of which were Democrats.

My biggest hope in this election cycle is that the loss of the House to the Republicans coupled with the retention of the Democratic Senate will lead to a more centrist agenda that focuses on fiscal responsibility, education reform and potentially a more rationale immigration agenda. This presents a true opportunity for the parties to come together to tackle the likely conflicting challenges of stimulating the economy and providing jobs while balancing the budget.