Wowee, pretty scary.

Or not.

Folks are talking about the big GOP GOTV effort in Rhode Island, which, we're told...

...was a potent demonstration of how money and manpower can transform a race even in an unfavorable political environment -- and a preview of the strategy that national party officials say they plan to replicate in the most competitive House and Senate races over the next 55 days.

Well, except that the GOP establishment had to dig deep into their pockets and turn out operatives from across the country just to help an incumbent Senator fend of a primary challenge, and in the end Democrat Sheldon Whitehouse, who put forward a relatively low key effort, turned out more votes than the efforts of virtually every interest from every wing of the Republican Party could produce in their high profile primary could produce for their top two candidates combined.

When Democrats do load up their big guns, they turn out to be even more effective. Alan Abramowitz did the math so you won't have to...

GOP turnout in the hotly contested Rhode Island Senate primary was actually less impressive than Democratic turnout in the hotly contested Maryland Senate primary.

When we calculate the votes cast in each primary as a percentage of the votes cast for the party's 2004 presidential nominee we find that the Republican turnout in Rhode Island (64,000 votes) was 37.9 percent of the vote for George Bush in Rhode Island in 2004 (169,000 votes) while the Democratic turnout in Maryland (513,000 votes) was 38.5 percent of the vote for John Kerry in Maryland in 2004 (1,334,000 votes).

The Republicans promise to replicate their efforts across the country. Of course, they can't really do everything everywhere, but since their best efforts in one of the country's most high profile elections fall short of Demcoratic accomplishments in a race that practically no one on the national scene made much not of, well, what can I say.

Bring it on.


(Subtle alterations on the advice of my faithful editor. Better now?)