Jim Martin: “There is no loss of enthusiasm in Republican ranks to beat Obama.”
(Alexandria, Virginia) – 60 Plus Chairman Jim Martin, leader of the nation’s largest conservative seniors advocacy group, today disputed growing media reports that lower turnout for the GOP presidential primary in certain states indicates diminished enthusiasm to beat President Obama,
“I understand the media would like to grab hold of the lower than expected number of GOP primary voters in states like Florida to spin the tale that enthusiasm is waning to beat President Obama, but they couldn’t be more wrong.
“Yes, turnout was down a few percentage points compared to 2008, but there really is no comparison to four years ago. In ’08 the race in Florida was very tight, with Senator McCain and Governor Romney neck-in-neck in the polls leading to the primary, and Governor Huckabee and Mayor Giuliani were also on the ballot, driving dedicated supporters to the polls. Four serious candidates campaigned hard and it helped drive voter turnout.
“This year Governor Romney had a double-digit lead for days prior to the vote, and two of the four GOP candidates did not even campaign in the state. With the contest all but decided, Florida voters were far less motivated to head to the polls.
“Further, the media neglects to note that turnout in other states such as New Hampshire and South Carolina was up, where the race was more competitive and more candidates were in the field, demonstrating that GOP enthusiasm is anything but withering in the battle to replace Barack Obama in the White House.
“As the leader of a seniors group with over 7.1 supporters, I know older Americans are fired-up in 2012, and the same ‘senior tsunami’ that swept to sea more than 60 Democrats in 2010 is just offshore and I predict it will come back with gale force in November.
“Let’s hope going further the press does a thorough analysis of the dynamics at play in the GOP contest, and not feed the public the wishful thinking of the pr-Obama media,” concluded Martin.
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