Poll: Democratic enthusiasm falls sharply
By Jonathan Easley - 07/25/12 02:46 PM ET
Other data points:Democrats are far less enthusiastic about the 2012 election than they were in 2004 and 2008, according to a new poll released on Wednesday.
A Gallup/USA Today poll found that only 39 percent of Democrats now say they are “more enthusiastic than usual” about the 2012 election. That’s down from 68 percent in 2004 and 61 in 2008.
Republicans, conversely, have seen a sharp rise since 2008, when only 35 percent said they were “more enthusiastic than usual.” In the latest survey, 51 percent said they were enthusiastic about the upcoming election, a 12-point advantage over the Democrats.
- a significant part of the decline in democrat enthusiasm has come since the Obama/Romney kicked off this year. Back in February, Democrat enthusiasm only trailed Republican enthusiasm 53 to 45.
- Obama's vote ceiling is expected to be lower this year than 4 years ago, and he can't take certain voter blocks for granted as before.
- For instance: even though Obama holds an almost 40 percent lead among Hispanic voters, according to an NBC News-Wall Street Journal-Telemundo poll released on Wednesday, that poll also found that only 68% of Hispanics are interested in the 2012 election—compared to 79% for the national average.
