McCain is getting his donkey kicked in Primaries with NO OPPONENTS.

[Driven1]

well, at least all the Disney characters will have a warm place to sleep at night. 

[RiversideGator]

Let's look at the primaries: 
The Reps have settled their primary fight with less than 30% of voters still registering protest votes against McCain. 

Meanwhile, the Dems are in the middle of a heated primary war in which probably 50% of Dems hate the other 50%.  Also, large numbers of Hillary voters indicate that they will vote for McCain if Obama is the Dem nominee.

Now, which party appears to be in worse shape based on their respective primary situations?

[RiversideGator]

More erroneous information.  Dems always vote in higher numbers in primaries than Reps, as I recall.  So, this stat in and of itself means nothing.

[vicupstate]

Dems always vote in higher numbers in primaries than Reps, as I recall. 

I've never heard that, and I have followed politics religiously for 25+ years.  That's not to say that it isn't technically true, but I would think I would have heard it, if it were. 

In nearly all presidential elections, one party has an incumbent President or Vice President which depresses turnout.  The 'out' party has the higher turnout in any given year.

Regardless, the voter turnout for Democratic primaries has surged in virtually every state, in some cases exponentially.  Even in a ruby red state like SC, where both parties had competitive primaries, the Dem turnout bested the best trunout ever for EITHER party. 

Many signs point to a Democratic year.  Fortunately for the GOP, the Democrats are very adept at snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. 

The 'protest' votes against McCain, aren't neccesarily something for the GOP to worry about, IMO.  The percentages of Clinton/Obama supporters that claim to prefer to vote for McCain versus their Dem preference will drop significantly as well.  IF the Dems are united, admitedly a big if, they will be difficult to beat. 

[RiversideGator]

Perhaps I should amend my previous post.  Dems usually vote in greater numbers that do Reps because of their traditionally higher numbers in the party.  Also, the party which accumulates the most primary votes does not appear to be the one who always wins.  See the chart below:

Figure 1. Battle of the Ballots: Primary Turnouts by Party Since 1972

Since the current primary-dominated era of presidential nominations began in 1972, more primary votes have been cast in the Democratic than the Republican contests in all but two elections, 1996 and 2000. Part of this is due to the lingering Democratic advantage in party registration in much of the country, as well as the Democrats' penchant for high gusto nominating contests.
   Number of       Votes Cast (in millions)       Major Candidates
Election    Primaries       Dems.    Reps.    Total       Democrats       Republicans
1972    21       16.0    6.2    22.2       McGovern, Humphrey, Wallace       Nixon*
1976    27       16.1    10.4    26.4       Carter, Brown, Wallace       Ford*, Reagan
1980    36       18.7    12.7    31.4       Carter*, Kennedy       Reagan, Bush, Anderson
1984    30       18.0    6.6    24.6       Mondale, Hart, Jackson       Reagan*
1988    37       23.0    12.2    35.1       Dukakis, Jackson, Gore       Bush, Dole, Robertson
1992    39       20.2    12.7    32.9       Clinton, Brown, Tsongas       Bush*, Buchanan
1996    42       10.9    14.0    24.9       Clinton*       Dole, Buchanan, Forbes
2000    43       14.0    17.2    31.2       Gore, Bradley       G.W. Bush, McCain
2004    38       16.2    7.9    24.1       Kerry, Edwards       G.W. Bush*

http://www.centerforpolitics.org/crystalball/article.php?id=FRC2008011701