My very first vote when I came to this state was in 1984. I stood in line while 9 months pregnant just to vote AGAINST Jesse Helms. Was very disappointed he won.
I don’t know. I know I have always tried not to declare a party even when it was impossible to do so. I’ve always considered myself an independent voter, splitting my ticket when it was possible to do so and still get halfway decent leadership. Before Unaffiliated became possible, I registered as a Republican so I could vote in primaries but as soon as I could register unaffiliated, I did so as much to cut down on damn junk election mail as anything. Ever since Reagan though, I’ve voted for Democratic candidates. My late husband was a lifelong republican until GWB. He got so disgusted with Bush’s lying that he finally registered Unaffiliated.
Could it be possible that people are registering Unafiliated to keep from being pigeonholed and gerrymandered out of representation?
Another reason for more 'unaffiliated' voters is that since the Republicans....or rather, Trumplicans....are trying to rig the elections and suppress the Democratic vote, many possible Democrat-leaning voters could register as unaffiliated so as to make it more difficult for Republicans to try to know if they are Democrat or not. That makes sense. If you don't know which way they lean, you can't be sure of trying to 'take away' their vote.
Yeah, it’s too early to characterize this resurgence of Ds as a genuine sea change.
You are correct that strategically speaking, the Ds registration growth has declined for decades, but there have been tactical reverses. I have annual records going back to 1992, and the Rs outgrew the Ds—or shrank slower than them in voter roll purge years—on a percentage basis every single year since then except for 2008 (Ds +14%, Rs +4%) and 2012 (Ds +4.9%, Rs +4.7%).
So even if the Ds retake second place in registrations (well behind the Us) in 2026, we will need to wait a couple of years to see if they can sustain a growth advantage over the Rs to be able to say with confidence that the party is over.
For years, the Republican Party stood for small government, free trade, and business. That party is gone. In its place stands a cult of personality.
The rise of Donald Trump changed everything. Party leaders looked away from corruption. They excused lies. They asked their followers to do the same. Many of those followers benefited from the Affordable Care Act and from the lower prices that came with open trade. Yet they cheered policies that worked against those interests.
That contradiction is painful enough. What hurts more is watching a man many see as unfit for the office tear at history and treat public service with contempt. He attacks institutions. He builds monuments for himself. He shows little respect for the sacrifices of others. Even the American service personal buried in France were not spared from his insults. They were, in his words, "losers."
It is a hard thing to watch. It is harder still to understand how so many continue to defend it. Trump is not the Biblical character, King David, he is just a run of the mill generic Republican politician.
Thanks to the gerrymandering and the NC GOP's unconstitutional power grabs the state is still under Republican control. The corrupt SCOTUS will do everything they can to ensure the GOP retains control of our state.
No. Yellow Dog Democrats are those who would rather vote for a yellow dog than a Republican. The Jessecrats we people who registered Democrat but voted Republican, especially at the federal level.
My very first vote when I came to this state was in 1984. I stood in line while 9 months pregnant just to vote AGAINST Jesse Helms. Was very disappointed he won.
I don’t know. I know I have always tried not to declare a party even when it was impossible to do so. I’ve always considered myself an independent voter, splitting my ticket when it was possible to do so and still get halfway decent leadership. Before Unaffiliated became possible, I registered as a Republican so I could vote in primaries but as soon as I could register unaffiliated, I did so as much to cut down on damn junk election mail as anything. Ever since Reagan though, I’ve voted for Democratic candidates. My late husband was a lifelong republican until GWB. He got so disgusted with Bush’s lying that he finally registered Unaffiliated.
Could it be possible that people are registering Unafiliated to keep from being pigeonholed and gerrymandered out of representation?
Another reason for more 'unaffiliated' voters is that since the Republicans....or rather, Trumplicans....are trying to rig the elections and suppress the Democratic vote, many possible Democrat-leaning voters could register as unaffiliated so as to make it more difficult for Republicans to try to know if they are Democrat or not. That makes sense. If you don't know which way they lean, you can't be sure of trying to 'take away' their vote.
Yeah, it’s too early to characterize this resurgence of Ds as a genuine sea change.
You are correct that strategically speaking, the Ds registration growth has declined for decades, but there have been tactical reverses. I have annual records going back to 1992, and the Rs outgrew the Ds—or shrank slower than them in voter roll purge years—on a percentage basis every single year since then except for 2008 (Ds +14%, Rs +4%) and 2012 (Ds +4.9%, Rs +4.7%).
So even if the Ds retake second place in registrations (well behind the Us) in 2026, we will need to wait a couple of years to see if they can sustain a growth advantage over the Rs to be able to say with confidence that the party is over.
For years, the Republican Party stood for small government, free trade, and business. That party is gone. In its place stands a cult of personality.
The rise of Donald Trump changed everything. Party leaders looked away from corruption. They excused lies. They asked their followers to do the same. Many of those followers benefited from the Affordable Care Act and from the lower prices that came with open trade. Yet they cheered policies that worked against those interests.
That contradiction is painful enough. What hurts more is watching a man many see as unfit for the office tear at history and treat public service with contempt. He attacks institutions. He builds monuments for himself. He shows little respect for the sacrifices of others. Even the American service personal buried in France were not spared from his insults. They were, in his words, "losers."
It is a hard thing to watch. It is harder still to understand how so many continue to defend it. Trump is not the Biblical character, King David, he is just a run of the mill generic Republican politician.
Thanks to the gerrymandering and the NC GOP's unconstitutional power grabs the state is still under Republican control. The corrupt SCOTUS will do everything they can to ensure the GOP retains control of our state.
Are the Yellow Dog democrats the same as Jessecrats?
No. Yellow Dog Democrats are those who would rather vote for a yellow dog than a Republican. The Jessecrats we people who registered Democrat but voted Republican, especially at the federal level.