h/t Instapundit. Not even Jodie Foster in a track suit is going to be able to save Democrats this year. But there’s more to the story than just low Democrat turnout. First, this via Hot Line:

Turnout among Dem voters dropped precipitously in 3 statewide primaries on Tuesday, giving the party more evidence that their voters lack enthusiasm ahead of midterm elections.

In primaries in NC, IN and OH, Dems turned out at far lower rates than they have in previous comparable elections.

Meanwhile, ponder David Obey’s decision. Obey got so caught up in Obama’s statism, he cued up the dark music and did a provocative fan dance as the presiding officer in the House during final passage of Obamacare. But voters were watching. Now, he can’t shed his skin for something akin to the small government, low tax number so in fashion with voters this year.

Updated: Representative David Obey of Wisconsin, chairman of the Appropriations Committee and one of the most powerful and longest-serving Democrats in Congress, announced today that he will not seek re-election and will step down after 41 years.

While it may have taken them a while to get through the case file, the better positioned GOP did manage to mostly break the Tea Party code. That’s why a closer look inside the numbers via the RNC’s Doug Heye shows GOP turnout numbers are surging, providing an important part of the plot. Irony, one of Lecter’s early quotes to Clarice mentioned “First principles.” And while it was a census taker, not necessarily a Democrat, Lecter enjoyed with “some favabeans and a nice chianti,” as things stand today, Conservatives and Republicans may want to have a bottle of sometime special handy come November to celebrate the devouring of big government liberal Democrats in the House and Senate in November. Cue 13 seconds of Sir Anthony Hopkins ff-ff-ff-ff-ff. heh!

By contrast, GOP turnout was up almost across the board. 373K people voted in Burr’s uncompetitive primary, nearly 9% higher than the 343K who voted in the equally non-competitive primary in ’04.

Being from North Carolina (full disclosure: I worked for Senator Burr from 2004-2006), I take a keen interest in my home state’s voting patterns and turnout models. What is stunning is the anecdotal evidence of a disenchanted Democratic base.  At one point last week, Pasquotank County, a county of approximately 42,000 residents in the northeast corner of the state, represented 4% of statewide early voters.