Study finds Dem base didn’t turn out in ’06 election

Democrats took over both houses of Congress in 2006 thanks to converted voters from the Republican base, while turnout among their own base actually declined between 2004 and 2006, according to a study by Third Way, a think tank founded by centrist Democrats.

The study, entitled “Looking Red, Voting Blue,” found that the mass electorate in 2006 was richer, whiter, more religious, more male, more married and more rural than in 2004.

{mosads}The median voter was 13.4 percent wealthier in 2006, and Democrats received fewer votes from people who felt negative about the economy than in 2004. Instead, they added 6.1 million voters who felt good about the economy.

Nearly nine in 10 new Democratic voters in 2006 were men, while married men and women increased their share of the Democratic vote from 55 percent to 61 percent.

Democrats added 7.6 million voters who switched from approving of the Iraq war to disapproving, and 6.7 million voters who switched their view of President Bush to disapproval.

The study “normalizes” the results of the 2004 and 2006 elections to make for an apt comparison and account for the differing turnouts between a presidential and midterm election.