Applied psephology

Who would stud a column on the accomplishments of Bush campaign manager Ken Mehlman in the past election with this observation on voter turnout in rerun elections:

Turnout was down in 1956 when Dwight Eisenhower faced Adlai Stevenson a second time. Turnout was down in 1996 when Bill Clinton faced Ross Perot and a decorated World War II veteran a second time.

Hint: He’s America’s psephologist supreme. Consider “Reshaping the electorate.” Also of interest on a related note is Eric Pfeiffer’s “Bill Clinton’s zero effect” at the Standard Online.

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