The Enthusiasm Gap In Action
By Doug Mataconis | Related entries in 2008 Election, Barack, McCain, Republicans
We’ve seen plenty of polls over the past several weeks showing that Democrats are more enthusiastic about Barack Obama’s campaign than Republicans are about John McCain’s campaign.
On one level, that’s understandable. McCain is losing this election, and he’s been behind in the polls for six weeks now; speaking as a veteran of many winning and losing campaigns, I can say that it’s really hard to be enthusiastic at the end of a long campaign when it’s pretty obvious that your candidate is going to lose. It’s a problem for campaigns because unenthusiastic voters are less likely to show up at the polls.
Evidence of the problem John McCain is facing was on full display in Florida today:
TAMPA, Florida (CNN) – Barack Obama may lead John McCain by just 2 points in the latest CNN Florida poll of polls, but the enthusiasm gap appears a bit wider.
John McCain’s first rally of the day, in Tampa outside Raymond James Stadium, only drew about 1,100 people. Local reporters noting that at almost the same spot just before the 2004 election, President Bush drew about 15,000 people. Two weeks ago, Obama drew an estimated 8,000.
Republican Gov. Crist, who had previously agreed to do interviews with CNN and various local affiliates, bolted right after the rally with no explanation.
If that’s not a sign of an unenthusiastic base, I don’t know what is.
This entry was posted on Monday, November 3rd, 2008 and is filed under 2008 Election, Barack, McCain, Republicans. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
