Time Magazine has an article up on political strategy that is a must read for voters. It outlines some of the very basic ways the Republicans win elections. Campaign 2006: The Republicans Secret Weapon.

One of the more interesting points was what strategists call the intensity gap. I think we see this demonstrated online.

Republicans acknowledge one ominous vulnerability: for more than a decade, the party has benefited from an intensity gap. Stoked by hatred of Bill Clinton or love for George W. Bush, G.O.P. voters have been more certain to vote than Democrats—meaning that the party tends to perform better than the final opinion polls suggest. Representative Rahm Emanuel of Illinois, head of the House Democrats’ campaign committee, recently told Time that gap had counted for as much as 5 to 7 points for the Republicans. But he thinks this election year might be different. “Their voters are unhappy,” he says. “They’re despondent about a failed President.”

Cynics tend not to vote. People that feel disenfranchised tend not to vote. People that believe their vote doesn’t matter chose not to participate because they believe outcome won’t effect them one way or the other and become indifferent.