It's not just lack of enthusiasm, unfortunately.

There are more than a few on the left who intend for Republicans to win as a way of punishing Obama et al. for not doing more on this or that issue (public option, DOMA repeal, whatever). "Let 'em lose," they sneer, "that'll show those weak Dems. That'll teach 'em a lesson!"

Yeah, right.

About half (48%) thought this year would be about the same, while 29% of Dems, apparently living in some kind of fantasy world, actually thought the Democratic majorities are likely to get bigger this year.

Steve, you seem surprised by this. Who was it that wrote the following yesterday?
When Speaker Pelosi, describing the Democratic chances of keeping the House, told Chuck Todd over the summer, "Take it to the bank," I suspect more than a few folks thought, "Really?"

This shows how much we miss unions in this country. The low-information Democrats (many of whom are susceptible to GOP messaging) would usually do the right thing when their shop steward told them what labor wanted. Now, getting wage slaves to the polls is dependent on scattershot media. I can't tell you how many people I know who aren't even registered to vote but who are natural Democrats. We have yet to figure out a way of mobilizing these folks. We don't have megachurches, we don't have talk radio, and we don't have chain e-mails. In 2008, Jennifer Aniston ran ads trying to get single women to vote (where Democrats have a 20 point polling advantage. This year, it's all uphill.

With all the money that Democrats have to spend, how come nobody has called me up to tell me that?

They called me a hundred times to tell me to vote for Obama.

I think there's a clear enthusiasm deficit among people who are likely to read a blog like this one. But we're still going to drag our butts to the polls on November 2.

The problem is that there's a lot of people who vote Dem, when they vote, but who are not particularly involved in politics. And neither the economy nor the Democrats (from the President on down) are giving them much reason to turn out this year.

Obama's idea of 'going long' is apparently a $50 billion infrastructure bill. And the GOP wants to cut taxes on the rich by something like $668 billion over the next decade.

What have elected Democrats done for Democrats to be enthusiastic about? Not much. A bunch compromised Republican inspired legislation and they did make sure those nice Wall Street Banksters all got their bonuses. I think they even fluffed the Banksters pillows after they finished f**king America.

Seriously, blaming the Democratic base for not being enthusiastic is a little rich. How about blaming elected Democrats for ignoring their base.

Heh Rahm, the Democratic base might not have any place else to go, but that doesn't mean they are going to leave their homes on election day. What a bunch of dumb f**ks. It is still the economy stupid, and by economy we out side of Wall Street mean OUR economy, not the economy according to Goldman Sucks.

RA RA SIS BOOM BA

Ok, there's your energy... Now we must vote.

Look, the Dems have a real shot here to put the Repubs away for a while as the only people who are excited about this election are the radical republicans.

What I tell you three times is true

These guys only win with a low turnout.

These guys only win with a low turnout.

These guys only win with a low turnout.

Moderate Republican women, if you let them know how really radical the Repubs are, will not vote Republican, neither will anyone else.

Look the message of Rep Giffords in Az. This is the kind of message Dems want to send about ALL Repubs on a national scale.

they want to Repeal Social Security, and gut medicare,

Plus give Your Hard Earned Money to the idle rich. like spoiled meat and dangerous eggs, well they gutted they Gutted the FDA. And brought us the great recession.

Too dangerous to trust again.

meanwhile,

Boycott the Wall Street Journal.
its dated and biased.

I just can't comprehend how the Republicans, who have absolutely NO solution to the current mess, and who, incidentally, got us into it, are ahead in any race.

I also can't comprehend how Dems like Ron@9.30a say Obama and the Democrats haven't accomplished anything. We've seen more "change" in the past two years than in 40 years before. Maybe the HCR didn't have the public option we all wanted, but that can be put in later. All those bills can be amended to make them stronger.

As to the economy, it took eight years to get us into this mess, it'll take more than 2 years to get us out.

But, most of all, I can't comprehend how the Dems can't get their messaging and their act together to say one simple thing, "Why do you want to return to the same policies that put the economy where it is today"?

"The CNN poll shows Republicans with a narrow lead among registered voters, but a big lead among likely voters."

I think the data about registered voters is probably more valid than data for likely voters. Registration is literally quantifiable via public records. On the other hand, 'likely voters' data must be obtained via polling. If it is telephone polling, cell-phone-only voters are very hard to reach / contact, thus skewing telephone polling results. If it is man-in-the-street polling, that has its own lack of random-ness unreliability.

Anyone who blames "Rahm" in a blog comment thread is totally unrepresentative of 99% or registered Democrats nationwide, because they're clearly overinformed junkies. Activists, junkies, whatever...a tiny tiny slice.

We have what we have. I wish the system, the country, the world, and humanity were a hell of a lot better. But they're not, this is the world we live in, and I think we're inching forward.

So yeah, I'm somewhat satisfied. But I know what the alternative is.

Maybe the democrats should be giving us something to be enthusiastic about? Instead we get watered down progressive policy that would pass for last decades conservative policy, no clear vision for what they would do if we kept them in the majority, and every time they are asked about the filibuster, they seem to be fine with keeping it. Why should we care to vote for them? I'm not a tribal voter, if they aren't going to do what we vote them in for, they don't deserve our enthusiasm.

I wonder at the pollsters' definition of 'likely' voters. Are the dems saying to them "Yah, I'm not enthusiastic, but I'll vote" and getting ignored?

Just a thought.

Well, none of us will have to feel disappointed the day after election day if we get to work letting the public, and especially our base, know about the significant progressive victories that President Obama and the Democrats have had. Help us do that at www.winningprogressive.org

I'm counting on round two of the Sarah Silvermann effect. I've already talked with my parents - and have talked to my nieces and nephews. I don't like to resort to fear mongering, but this year when I tell my folks that their social security and medicare are being challenged by the right, it's based on facts, not propaganda - it's honest at least. Also as a recently diagnosed cancer patient - I see first hand the real need for the hcr bill - until you've been there, you really don't fully comprehend the consequences of a long term illness and the detriment of the re publican position on health care. We all have to do our part to get the vote out.

Phobes, my own unscientific, personal-observation-based explanation to why the GOP might gain both houses of Congress in spite of themselves is that the so-called low-info voters get the little info they have from Fox, their personal acquaintances, and chain emails. You know what they've heard for years. Meanwhile, those of us who read leftie/leftish blogs for a pastime have heard for a year and a half how O and Congress sold us out, never went big, doesn't really have "progressive" values, and are just GOP-lite. Just look at the comments in this very thread for examples. Is there really any wonder there's little enthusiasm for Dems? "Not the complete disaster THEY are" never will be a compelling battle cry, even when (as now) it's the absolute truth. Most of the left seems to want something to get excited for, while most of the right seems content with something to hate.

nightshift66@10a - that's a good explanation for it, but Dems have to ball up here and vote.

I liked WinningProgressive@9.56a note.

The Democrats should run a slide show type ad that shows Bush, Cheney, and some of the worst news headlines from the past decade and ask something like:
"Would you like to return to this?"
"Stay home on election day"

It would probably pull in a large number of independent voters as well.

The enthusiasm gap, then, is likely the difference between a majority and a minority.

That's true enough, but that wisdom cuts both ways. Yes, it implies that if rank-and-file Democrats shake themselves out of their lack of enthusiasm and get to the polls, it could blunt Republican gains.

But it also means that if elected Democrats stop acting like a bunch of wimps and tugging their forelocks at Republicans all the time -- to the point of adopting Republican frames in their rhetoric, rather than contesting them -- they might -- shockingly enough -- motivate their own constituents to vote for them, instead of wasting time trying to appease a bunch of shrieking movement conservatives who will never vote for them anyway.

I can only wonder how many Democrats will wake the day after Election Day with a feeling of deep regret.

Which Democrats, Steve? The voters, who will be represented by a more heavily -- and crazily -- Republican caucus, or the Democratic losers who won't know whether maybe acting like Deocrats with guts might actually have pulled out a victory?

It's all well and good for a losing team to blame lackluster fan support for the lack of fire in their bellies, but they can't blame the fans if they aren't giving the fans much to rally around in the first place. Yes, the Democrats have passed some landmark legislation, but in an incredibly half-assed and apologietic fashion, cowering before the very Republicans who are openly running on the same agenda that got us into these messes in the first place.

If the Democrats want support, they have to show some fight. And yes, that'll be hard now that the so-called "liberal media" as adopted its "panicky Dem / ascendant Republican" narrative and won't look past it to assess actual reality. But adopting Republican frames and appeasing the teabagger crowd just isn't a formula for victory. It makes the Democrats who do so look like losers. Well, if the shoe fits...

I'll vote, because I always do; and I'll vote exclusively for Democrats, because I always do. But I'm not donating money, and I am very disheartened.

It is extremely hard to give a shit about a party that is considering cuts to Social Security in order to get along with Tea Party crazies and Republicans.

The fact is the right has Fox news which is geared 100% towards that enthusiasm gap. It's the all-outrage-all-the-time channel. Sure, MSNBC has a couple of liberal shows, but the right ties it all together straight from the news on down.

How have the polls been conducted.......and by that I mean are they calling landlines?? If so, they are missing everyone under the age of 30. Us "old folks" are the only ones with landlines, the younger voters do not have them!

@K.....There are more than a few on the left who intend for Republicans to win as a way of punishing Obama et al. for not doing more on this or that issue (public option, DOMA repeal, whatever). "Let 'em lose," they sneer, "that'll show those weak Dems. That'll teach 'em a lesson!"

That's right. Its mostly nonsense. They are like children on the playground. They'd rather cut off their noses to spite their faces rather than admit that Obama is one of the best presidents in decades. Sorry, guys, I don't want to lose Congress. I still remember what is was like to be under GOP rule for 8 long years. Either get with the program or get out of my face.

It is not just the enthusiasm gap. Independents are going to break big for the GOP because things suck, the Dems have not made much headway and Dumbya and Cheny are not on the ballot. What really concerns me is what is going to happen in 2012 because things are only going to get worse with the GOP in charge of Congress and we are already at the point where the lunatic fringe is going to win some elections. See the latest polling putting Rand Paul up by 15%. The U.S. got lucky in 1932 by electing FDR as president and as bad a president as he was in many ways we actually were lucky to elect Reagen in 1980. We unfortunately were not so lucky with Obama in 2008 and that means we could end up with someone much worse than Dumbya come 2012. That is the real message Democrats must have--if the GOP takes back Congress things are going to get much worse and we know that there will not be a Democrat with the necessary leadership skills available in 2012.

"Maybe the democrats should be giving us something to be enthusiastic about?"

This is a pathetic line of argument, constantly repeated.

Get enthusiastic about not having psychotic morons run your government. If that isn't enough for you to get enthusiastic about, you indeed *are* the problem.

Well, many of us are just tiring of being exhorted to support the lesser of two evils, especially when Democrats are calling for Bush tax cuts, for Social Security cuts, for more austerity measures.

Really, fuck it.

Then many of you deserve the evil you get.

This is a pathetic line of argument, constantly repeated.

No, what's pathetic is when Democrats embrace Republicans frames -- Blanche Lincoln running ads touting the times she voted against Obama, or various Blue Dogs griping about the deficit.

On top of that, the so-called "liberal media" is doing its usual piss-poor job of pointing out what psychotic morons the Republicans are. Now, that's fine for plugged-in political junkies like us, but how exactly do you propose rank-and-file or quasi-independent low-information voters are supposed to get fired up about Democrats when so many of them are on TV essentially conceding the Republican talking points?

After all, your contention that voters should get fired up all on their own more or less concedes the fact that the Democratic Party isn't doing much to close the enthusiasm gap.

Which is what? Decimating Social Security? "Fuck the UAW"? Extending tax cuts for the ultra-rich?

Given a choice between Democrats who bow to Republicans and actual Republicans, I really don't see why voters should support the pretenders rather than the real thing.

Of course, Democrats could always come out and fight for workers, children, and the elderly. LOL! You can tell I grew up in the '70s, can't you?

I don't feel "listless and uninspired". I'm anxious to cast my vote to keep Repubs from even getting close to any office in Gov't. They are a cancer and electioneering starts yesterday. Wait and see.

Having only two weevils... er, evils to choose between is certainly suboptimal. However, that is reality, and I try to remain based in reality whether it's pleasant or not.

I tend to agree with the point alluded to above by Terry and Gregory that the winning or losing margin is going to be the LIV's who actually vote for both parties. (Anyone who votes consistently for either party is not independent no matter what they say, IMO.) But I'm at a loss for any idea how to swing them to the donkeys. I'd have thought that the scandal-plagued and extreme candidates the GOP is fielding this time would have been sufficient by itself, even factoring in IOKIYAR, but it looks like it isn't.

It's very difficult to enthuse people who only get enthused by getting exactly what they want right now.

The Right is successful because, as misguided as they are, they truly believe in what they are doing. It is not a matter of a moment or a race or a term to them. Whatever happens, they continue to believe and continue to work towards that belief. They gladly stomach 30 years of presidents who don't outlaw abortion so that they can gradually chip away at the entire institution. They don't give up and retreat into snarling, isolated, self-absorbed whining.

Changing the world is a work of decades of incremental change. It's easy if you know what you believe and stick to it. It's only discouraging if you have no strongly held beliefs and treat it all as a mere game that you won't play unless you're winning each turn.

And who says it is *ANYONE* else's job to get you enthusiastic? Since when did you become a lump of inanimate matter that only performs correctly when manipulated by a proper craftsman? Why aren't *YOU* getting other people fired up, instead of whinging on blogs that you aren't getting your way?

Stop being such prima donnas. This is a game for adults, people. Taking your ball and going home may feel good, but it guarantees all you hate. Take responsibility yourself.

So there are no candidates you can support? Why is it just a passive choice for you? Why are you just SHOPPING for a world you want, instead of MAKING it? See what the Tea Party is doing to the Republicans? Are you saying these morons are so incredibly ingenious and effective at political manipulation that you couldn't possibly achieve their level of success?

Pathetic. I say again, pathetic. Simply, purely pathetic.

If the "enthusiasm gap" was directly attributable to people who think of themselves as to the left of Obama, that would be one thing. That's the group that lacks enthusiasm _on the blogs_. But is there any reason to think that the enthusiasm gap lives there in the population at large?

My gut tells me, no way; it has to be a combination of true "swing voters" who soured on Bush, voted Obama, and are pissed off that things haven't improved fast enough; and a regression-to-the-mean effect among people who aren't normally politically active, especially people who like Obama a lot more than they like "Democrats."

... and every time they are asked about the filibuster, they seem to be fine with keeping it.

Perhaps, Paul, that is because soon, very soon, they are going to need it.

With all the money that Democrats have to spend, how come nobody has called me up to tell me that? -DR

Because they replaced the head of the DNC with an incompetent paperweight.

It's hard to be "enthusiastic" when all you read anymore is about the enthusiasm gap. I'm one of those voters Lance talks about above. I'm giving money, but only to individual races, not the DNC. But this narrative seems to be driving the news and blogs. Go over the Swampland and that's all you are starting to see. The Villagers are driving the message and I hope that Democrats will start defining the differences between us and the Republicans/Tea Partiers. If they are successful, so will we be.

*Champing at the bit.

I'll be reluctantly voting this year. It is hard though as a democrat who is in the party mostly because of his views on labor unions. It wasn't just the filibuster that killed card check, I've concluded a large part of Democratic is anti-labor union (more or less these people are abortion rights republicans).

[...] while 29% of Dems, apparently living in some kind of fantasy world, actually thought the Democratic majorities are likely to get bigger this year. -- Steve Benen

Repubs have their "moron margin" of about the same percentage. Why should Dems be exempt?

[...] a regression-to-the-mean effect among people who aren't normally politically active, especially people who like Obama a lot more than they like "Democrats."
Posted by: FlipYrWhig on September 7, 2010 at 12:52 PM

That's what I'm seeing, too. Young people, black people... they voted, often for the first time, in '08 and figured their job was done. They were, sort of, "Democratic tourists". In '08, our local Dem committee meetings were a joy. This year, most of the people who attended the Dem Breakfast yesterday (a kick-off for the "political season") were too old to participate in the parade later on. The parade's route is about 2 miles...

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