Our very own Timothy remarked to me after the election that he was feeling a bit of an election hangover. The, at times, overwhelming coverage by the media, the constant barrage of advertising by the candidates, and the unavoidable bar stool debates with co-workers, friends and family were all over. The seemingly empty space left behind once the election was over could leave even the most politically conscious among us feeling a bit foggy and lost at times. But if there is one thing that this election may very well leave as a legacy, it's that it has rejuvenated a large portion of the American public's interest in national and global politics.

Making Haste

This past Tuesday, the citizens of the United States of America elected Illinois Senator Barack Obama the 44th President of the United States. The next day, memetician E.A. Blair told us how A Change is Gonna Come. On Thursday, so did President-elect Obama.

Talk about hitting the ground running.

Based on James' comment to the previous post I have created three new graphs.

The first is the same as my original graph but with the total voter turnout percentage added as a fourth data set. As James requested. What's interesting here is the decline in voter interest after the 1968 election. Coinciding with the third party Wallace losing rather badly to Nixon and Humphrey. Interest seemed to level off until the Perot affect in 1992 only to drop again in 1996 and 2000. Perhaps voters are truly turned off by the lack of a viable third party to contend on a regular basis and need something as drastic as the G. W. Bush Administration to come running back to the booths as evident in '04 and '08. Obama may carry voting rates above recent historical rates in 2012 but I wouldn't be surprised to see voter turnout drop to the high 40% - low 50% range either then or subsequently.