Which is more moderate?

[Alcon]

It is almost 5 AM, so I should be sleeping, but I wanted to put this up before I forgot.

Discuss.

[dazzleman]

I'd say equal, as long as you're talking about general elections with a reasonably high turnout.  In higher turnout elections (50% or so, by our dismal standars), those who don't vote are generally either apathetic, or even distributed among different political philosophies.

The lower the turnout, the greater the chance that the voters will be significantly less moderate than the electorate.  Primaries are a perfect example of this.

[opebo]

Obviously the voters are more to the right of center than the populace in general.

[afleitch]

I agree- if voter turnout was mandatory at 100%, the Democrats would probably gain from it.

[dazzleman]

I agree- if voter turnout was mandatory at 100%, the Democrats would probably gain from it.

What does that say about the Democrats, in your opinion?

[minionofmidas]

My impression from Germany is that, with turnout anywhere from 90 to about 65% the voters are clearly to the right of the electorate, but when turnout drops below that, there is no clear relationship anymore.

Oh, and Daz - It tells you there are more apathetic and downtrodden on the left, and more knee-jerks - the type who vote even though they know nothing whatsoever about the candidates - on the right.

[Schmitz in 1972]

I agree- if voter turnout was mandatory at 100%, the Democrats would probably gain from it.

What does that say about the Democrats, in your opinion?

It says they're lousy, pragmatic, non-commital, wishy-washy, hunks of nothing. Same goes for Republicans

[J. J.]

I voted the wrong way, so take on from the electorate and add one to the public.

[A18]

The public in general is pretty dumb, so it likely follows that they're more moderate.

[Beet]

People who vote are more likely to be people who care a lot about politics, and people who care a lot about politics are more likely to fall on the extremes, so, yes the general public is probably more moderate. Not that it particularly matters, though.

[Gabu]

My answer is much like thefactor's answer: people who don't vote generally also don't care, and it's impossible not to be moderate if you just really, honestly just don't care.

So the public in general is more moderate, I'd say.