I noted the relative emptiness in the Xcel Center in a post yesterday. This morning, WBEZ's Ben Calhoun reported that the Republicans again failed to fill the stadium last night, even with all the hype preceding Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's vice presidential acceptance speech:
CALHOUN: There are questions hanging out there. If there is one question I think that remains out there from last night -- there were a lot of empty seats in this arena last night. There have been for the last three nights. And there's a distinct difference from Denver, where there was just a swarm of excitement that took over the city for that Democrat convention. I think that last night she [Palin] showed that she could stir the Republican base, but there are big questions about whether or not this is the ticket that can draw people in and not just stir the people who are here -- the party faithful -- but fill empty seats in the larger sense come November.
Now, one could respond that the Xcel Center attendance isn't really an accurate barometer of Republican enthusiasm or nationwide sentiment. And taken by itself, this is true. But what I find relevant about all those empty seats is that they reflect the broader data. Sure, Palin was able to rev up the GOP base; however, that base is a good deal weaker than it was the last time around. Indeed, the Democrats edge over the GOP in party affiliation has been growing in recent years. As Rasmussen explained earlier this week, the Dems "enjoy a much bigger [party ID] advantage today than they did when votes were cast in Election 2004 and an advantage almost identical to their edge in January. In fact, other than the past six months, the current 5.7 percentage point advantage is one of the biggest on record."
Meanwhile, we have some early evidence that Palin's speech didn't leave independents and undecided women ready to fill those theoretical "empty seats."
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