Midterm Enthusiasm Softens Among Democratic Voters

[brooklynite]

Last edited Wed Jul 21, 2021, 02:23 PM - Edit history (1)

Source: Morning Consult

With several of President Joe Biden’s key agenda items stalled on Capitol Hill – and former President Donald Trump largely out of the picture, at least for now – excitement for the 2022 midterm elections has softened among Democratic voters even as it’s gained some strength across the aisle.

According to a new Morning Consult/Politico survey, the share of Democratic voters who said they were “very” or “extremely” enthusiastic about the midterms has fallen 5 percentage points since April, to 48 percent, along with similarly sized drops among Americans who voted for Biden in November.

Nearly 4 in 5 Democratic voters said in the July 16-18 survey that they were at least “somewhat” enthusiastic about the 2022 elections, down slightly from the April 9-12 poll, which was conducted a month after Congress sent Biden the $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package. Each poll surveyed roughly 2,000 registered voters, with 2-point margins of error.

As was the case three months ago, Democrats are more likely than Republicans to say they’re at least somewhat enthusiastic about the midterms. But Republicans have strengthened their intensity advantage.

Read more: https://morningconsult.com/2021/07/21/voter-enthusiasm-midterms-polling/

[Lochloosa]

1. Wrong link

[WhiteTara]

2. Please stop trying to depress us more

We're 1.5 YEARS from the mid-terms. Do you mean that the money class is getting bored and wants some action? BTW, did you write this?

[brooklynite]

3. I'd rather know the truth and act accordingly...

Not clear what this has to do with the "money class".

[WhiteTara]

6. those who fund campaigns

is what money class means.

So, I hope you use your platform to enthuse them to stay engaged and help prop up individual candidates with money to make their campaigns flourish. Then enthusiasm stays high.

[brooklynite]

9. The poll is of voters; not activists or funders

I've always encouraged responsible candidate funding, and will be putting in about $75,000 during this cycle. Of course, then I get criticized for being to cozy with the Party or discouraging support for hopeless cause races.

[WhiteTara]

14. just enough to be helpful, but not enough

to change a tide. I do understand.

[bluewater]

32. Thank you for your personal financial support of Democratic candidates!

brooklynite wrote:

I've always encouraged responsible candidate funding, and will be putting in about $75,000 during this cycle.

Thank you.

That is a substantial contribution.

[Escurumbele]

21. Don't you think it is important to know the truth? If in fact that survey is telling us what is

truly happening and that Democratic voters are less enthusiastic about the next elections that is telling us that we need to talk to the people who vote Democratic to help bring the enthusiasm back to them to make sure Democrats gain sits in both houses.

I don't get the running away from the truth, if in fact that is the truth...That is what ostriches do, they hide their heads in the sand and never see the machete coming at them.

[WhiteTara]

26. Sure, but we' almost one year away

from primaries. The 1/6 hearings haven't begun and we're all so weary from all of this plus the next COVID variant is getting ready to steam roller through. Now if this was April, 2022, I'd be working the phones like crazy. But I can speak for many people. We're battle weary and are taking a brief rest before the next battle or onslaught of GQP created depressing articles.

I guess I'm saying, Too Soon.

[LanternWaste]

23. And I imagine you'll allege an action should the question arise.

And I further imagine some people may even believe that to be the truth.

[msongs]

4. it's an opinion poll of a teeny tiny group of people, nothing more nt

[BumRushDaShow]

5. I expect

and I really feel the same way, that people are sick and tired of "politics" and the continual shit-shows that are being manufactured. And with the overlay of the ups and downs of the pandemic and the stress that has caused, they are TRYING to tune out - at least for little while. It's summertime and vacation time for many people.

We still have just under a year until the primaries for 2022 will be well underway, so this is premature.

Continually staying outraged 24/7 while building up and sustaining higher and higher cortisol levels, is a recipe for a health disaster.

[maxrandb]

7. Oh No! Another Politicos "Dems in Disarray" push-poll story

I urge Politico to just stop pussy-footing around and add the damn Fox Logo to their stories already. It would save us all a lot of time

[brooklynite]

10. This is a poll by Morning Consult; what does Politico have to do with it?

[maxrandb]

11. From the article

"According to a new Morning Consult/Politico survey,"

[LanternWaste]

25. You don't really check your own sources very well, do you...

You should. You really should... doing so might even lend an air of legitimacy in the future.

[moose65]

8. Oh FFS

This already?? The election is an eternity away, in political terms. No one can predict what turnout will be right at this instant.

It's like a self-fulfilling prophecy. "The President's party always loses seats in the first midterm." Repeated over and over and over until people believe it and don't vote. Stop this crap.

[brooklynite]

12. "The election is an eternity away, in political terms."

Perhaps you should tell that to the House/Senate/Governor candidates who are calling me constantly.

Campaign funds are used to craft and transmit messaging to encourage voter support. Understanding what voters are thinking is a useful starting point.

Democratic voters were engaged in 2020 largely to drive out Trump; they were less engaged in increasing Democrat numbers in the House and Senate. In 2022, we won't have Trump as a rallying point.

[moose65]

29. You're important, huh?

Democrats voted for Dem Senate and House candidates. However, many Republicans voted for Biden and then voted Republican, as usual, in House and Senate races. Unaffiliated voters did pretty much the same.

Trump is the gift that keeps on giving. If he’s still around and relevant next year, you can bet that he’ll galvanize our side again.

[BradAllison]

13. The Bearer of Bad News n/m

[barbtries]

15. i just can't right now.

as much as i feel i should, i'm taking off this year. NEXT year is the mid-terms. I'll be fired up and ready to go then.

I wish we had UK-style campaigns. You campaign for 6 weeks, have the election, then you govern until it's time for another election. What we do in the US is fucking insane. this forever campaign shit wears me out. I'm sure I would be counted among the softened here, but I'm just biding my time.

[Sibelius Fan]

16. Ds can well afford a break from politics NOW so we can be juiced for next year.

I have no fear whatsoever of D turnout being depressed in 2022. Quite the contrary.

[Fiendish Thingy]

22. Absolutely wrong- the fight is NOW, not November 2022

If new voting rights laws aren’t passed soon, turnout will have little impact in states where the legislature can reject election results they don’t like.

[Roisin Ni Fiachra]

17. End the filibuster tomorrow, and Democratic enthusiasm for the midterms

will skyrocket.

With Manchin and Sinema helping McConnell block everything Democrats need to do for the country, hopelessness is setting in as time is running out.

[marble falls]

19. If Democrats would turn out for offyear elections, the filibuster wouldn't matter.

[Roisin Ni Fiachra]

33. Democrats will turn out, but Republican voter suppression will cause

us to lose in states where Republicans enact these voting laws. Republicans are great at cheating. They do it strategically, and very well.

It's not that we won't vote, it's that we won't be able to vote in certain areas. That's the Republican strategy.

If we don't pass the "For the People Act" by ending the filibuster. Republicans will take the House and Senate through voter suppression and gerrymandering.

[marble falls]

35. You can't deny a landslide, not even a Democratic landslide. All we have to do is swamp the ...

...the polls after the John Lewis voting act is passed.

[moose65]

30. And so what?

We’re so hopeless, so we’re gonna vote for Republicans? I think not.

[Roisin Ni Fiachra]

34. I didn't say that any of us would vote for Republicans.

WTF?

[moose65]

36. No, but all this doom and gloom is ridiculous

Democrats won't be enthusiastic unless they end the filibuster?

[DownriverDem]

18. It better not

We must protect the Biden/Harris agenda. Unbelievable.

[Fiendish Thingy]

20. Hopefully that will change once infrastructure is done.

Continued Complacency and apathy will be the death of democracy.

[dsc]

24. There is really no excuse for pollsters to not be more precise in their writing

that drop is within the MOE (which is either +/- 3 or +/- 5) and pollsters should know that and mention it. If the MOE is 5 it is actually about a coin flip as to if that drop is or isn't existent. If this were a typical reporter I would just assume they didn't know any better but since it is a pollster, I know they do, making this all the more egregious.

[DanieRains]

27. I Would Walk Through 1,000 Miles Of Burning Forest Fires To Vote Against Republicans

Even 2,000 if necessary.

Why?

Because I don't like Nazis.

[moose65]

37. I'm right there with you

This doom and gloom helps no one.

[ZonkerHarris]

28. Really? I want shove a ballot box up Mitch McConnell's ass.

[oasis]

31. Wake up America!

The fate of democracy hangs in the balance.

[Cinnamonspice]

38. Nooooooo.

We shouldn't need a psychopath as president to get Democrats to want to come to the polls. We need to keep going.

[onenote]

39. I can't figure out how someone who follows and posts on this board

says that they're burned out on politics. How burned out can you really be if you spend time reading and posting on a board dedicated to political discussion?

[brooklynite]

40. I don't understand the connection...

The poll is of ordinary voters, who don't as rule hang out on political blogs.

Very little of what DU collectively thinks is reflective of politics in the real world.

[onenote]

41. My comment was directed at some comments

that shrugged off the OP citing their desire to disengage from politics for a while.

[CBHagman]

42. Enthusiasm schmenthusiasm. Just get out and vote.

Yes, I know it helps when people feel lifted on a wave of enthusiasm going into an election, but the most important thing we need to remember is that every election counts and sitting home during the midterms is a recipe for long-term trouble because Senate terms last six years.

Rear ends off the couch, everybody. Vote.