Democrats leapfrog Republicans in latest voter enthusiasm poll

A new survey from Public Policy Polling finds that Democrats are now more excited about voting in the 2012 elections than Republicans.

It's a troubling sign for Republican candidates, including presidential front-runner Mitt Romney, who saw depressed turnout as one of the reasons Rick Santorum was able to complete a surprising sweep of the Minnesota, Missouri and Colorado votes Tuesday night.

The poll found that 58 percent of Democrats were "very excited" about voting in November, while 54 percent of Republicans felt the same way. While that gap is marginal, it represents a substantial jump from a version of the poll conducted in late July. Then, only 48 percent of Democrats were "very excited to vote," while Republicans held steady with 54 percent.

In 2010, when Republicans dominated the midterm election and posted huge gains in the House, they held an 18-point lead among "very enthusiastic" voters, according to a Gallup poll. Then, only 24 percent of Democrats described themselves as "very enthusiastic," fewer than half of the voters who do so today.

The numbers suggest conservatives are disenchanted with the Republican presidential field, a notion supported by relatively low turnout in GOP primaries. That low turnout has, in part, led to surprise wins by challengers to presumptive front-runner Mitt Romney, each of which has the potential to further bruise his campaign — and dampen enthusiasm.

The PPP poll found that a quarter of conservatives are not excited to vote this fall, versus 16 percent of liberals. Even among some of the most fervent political activists on the right, the Tea Party, the number of very enthusiastic voters has slipped from 73 percent to 62 percent since July.

Conversely, core demographic groups for the Democrats look primed to cast a ballot in favor of President Obama's reelection. The Democratic-leaning polling firm found that the most enthusiastic group to vote in November was African-American voters, 72 percent of whom say they're "very excited" to vote.

Enthusiasm is volatile, and it's likely that Republican numbers will improve once the primary battle concludes. Nevertheless, the numbers provide encouragement to the Obama campaign team, which will need a strong turnout in what will no doubt be a hard-fought reelection campaign.

PPP originally performed the poll on behalf of the Daily Kos.

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