According to the latest NBC/Wall Street Journal poll, the Democrats have drawn even with the Republicans among registered voters. The reason?
The movement towards the Democratic Party is due to increased enthusiasm amongst African-American (6% increase) and Latino voters (11% gain).
In other words, the progressive base is coming home. No, not this progressive base, which seems to have no representation in Congress. It’s the base that elects the vast majority of the Progressive Caucus in Washington.
Things will get better if the youth vote gets engaged. That is where the enthusiasm gap is still killing us. And the reason? They are not pissed off like everyone else.
The latest NBC/WSJ poll found that young people much less enthusiastic about voting in the midterm elections than older people. Just 35% of those 18-34 years-olds are enthusiastic about the midterm elections, versus 65% of seniors.
A Congressional Connection poll may have found the reason: When asked if they were satisfied “with the way things are going in this country today,” 54% of 18-29 year-olds said “yes,” compared with just 28% of 30-49 year-olds, 22% of 50-64 year-olds, and 19% of 65+ year-olds.
And, so…
That disparity is a chief reason why Obama on Tuesday traveled to a rally at the University of Wisconsin, while Vice President Joe Biden visited Penn State.
It also tells me that, somewhat counterintuitively, social issues should be a bigger part of the Democratic message. The reason the youth vote is so solidly Democratic is because they don’t like racism, homophobia, or sexism. Yeah, I know it’s all about the economy, but its important that young voters hear about how the GOP has fundamentally intolerant views and completely anachronistic values. In support of this view, notice that the Republicans have made the strategic choice to downplay social issues in this cycle because they think their base is already sufficiently motivated. If they want to unilaterally disarm on the issue, we should take advantage of it. Perhaps this can be done in a targeted way, so the message mainly goes to those intended to receive it.
