Dems Win Registration Wars

With voter registration closing in many states today, it appears Barack Obama has largely succeeded in his attempt to make over the electorate, the Washington Post reports. Some 4 million new voters have registered across a dozen battleground states, with new Democrats greatly outnumbering new Republicans. In Florida, Obama has over twice as many new voters; in North Carolina, the ratio is roughly 6-1.

Last-minute registration jockeying has been fierce; John McCain’s campaign has used former NFL players to sign up voters in Ohio, while Obama deployed Bruce Springsteen both there and in Pennsylvania. Overall, Obama’s machine has been far more impressive, but Republicans downplay its success. “There's a difference between successful registration and a groundswell,” said Nevada’s lieutenant governor. “It's mechanics versus momentum.” (More Obama 2008 stories.)