If a state is 60-40 Republican, but 100 percent of the Democrats vote and only 50 percent of the Republicans do, then the Democratic candidate wins.

Working to get Democrats to get out and vote for Democrats, or working to get "conservatives" to vote for Democrats?

The answer is obvious, isn't it?

The obvious answer in these areas is you have to reach out to non-base voters, as Lamb did in Penn. and which was a winning strategy for that red district.

Yes that is a different calculation.

I grew up in a red state and if I thought that only trying GOTV would work (in theory numbers-wise it would IF you could get out big enough numbers) than I'd say yeah, screw indies, conservadems and the few remaining reub moderates. From my experience I don't think that would work but it would be great if it did.

by GOTV efforts, which could be more effective in terms of absolute gained votes cast than trying to get people to change their minds about an issue or to vote against party affiliation. At least that's my understanding of why some people argue that Dems trying to get Dem votes is more important than Dems trying to get GOP votes.

Highlight the corruption, steer clear of making them think they are idiots for supporting the Anus Faced Tangerine, focus on the things that bring us all together. Highlight his/their disrespect of the norms.

what they care about, what makes them mad, or sad, or hopeful, and then you talk about those things, you'll probably do OK. I learned a long time ago you have to know your audience to get anywhere. Politics, after all, is the art of compromise. At the local level, you're sitting at the table with some people who have diverging views, but there's an issue that needs to be resolved. You debate, hash out the issue and try to come up with something everyone can live with, then you do it.

This is why we probably aren't wise to second guess certain candidates, saying, "Oh, he should move to center," or "Oh, she should move left." The candidate who is smart enough to win knows the center and left boundaries of where their positions ought to fall. Because that's the reality, isn't it? In a representative government, where the people in a given geography elect a person to represent their interests at a certain level, we really can't have ideologues.

In the Ted Talk titled "If Mayors Ruled the World," Benjamin Barber tells an anecdote about the mayor of Tel Aviv. He says that worthy gentleman had several rabbis in his office one day, and they were arguing vociferously. Finally, he slapped his hand on his desk and said, "Gentlemen! Spare me your sermons, and I'll make your sewers work." That's a paraphrase, I think, but you get the idea. Bottom line - if you want to represent the people, you must either tout the things they care about, or convince them to care about other things. But you can't ever get too far from reality into idealism, because you'll lose.

People care about healthcare, childcare, losing their jobs, prices at the pump, crappy roads, the schools where their kids go, the expense of college, inflation, retirement, how they will take care of their parents when they get old at the same time their kids want to go to college, etc. Those are kitchen table issues, and each community has some variation of them. The wise candidate will have his/her finger on the pulse of the local variations.

That's why your so-called 'purists' don't win very often. I'm as left-socialist as they come, but again, politics is necessarily the art of compromise. Not selling out, but compromise.

I am canvassing with a state rep. candidate. My husband is a part of this effort. He mostly drives, but he has farmed his entire life, and can address the agricultural issues better than I can, or the candidate. He helps us speak to farmers and ag workers.

I know most of the Democrats in the area, and I am experienced at GOTV. The candidate does most of the talking, but people know me.
It helps when they see me. I know the Democrats who do not vote in primaries, and I know the independents. I know the people who only remember to vote when we remind them.

Often, there are people who will vote if they meet the candidate. They will vote for the person who bothers to talk to them. Party is not important to those people. We meet some people who have never had anyone speak to them personally and to ask for their vote face-to-face.

This is why it is important to be involved in your own community. Please canvas and phone bank. Be a precinct committeeman. There is nothing to fear. You can do this a few hours a week and make a huge difference.

overall GOP support base. Its a significant part but nonetheless, pretty much unswayable. What is left of moderate republicans, and there are many, those can be reached with properly framing of the issues, even more important is the segment of "independents" who lean/vote republicans, those people can be reached too...but its a waste of time to think the core idelogues would listen or be swayed by ANY democratic argument.

governor races in Florida and what has not:

From Jonathan Capehart's excellent op piece in the WaPo: