Voter enthusiasm is back, and Democrats should be relieved.
Just a month ago, I warned that downballot Democrats would be on their own after President Joe Biden’s horrible debate performance, advising them to chart their own path to a win in November.
In fact, it was concern over the lack of Biden’s ability to turnout voters that caused angst among the Democrats about winning the House. Former Speaker Nancy Pelosi used polling numbers to nudge Biden to sit this one out. It is important to keep in mind that when it comes to swing districts, the easiest seats to flip are those in blue states such as New York and California, where small differences in turnout can have a big effect.
But with Vice President Kamala Harris now likely at the top of the ticket, things look dramatically different.
Democrats should be cautiously optimistic that excitement over her historic campaign could bring new voters to the polls.
There are still three months to go, but Democrats should be cautiously optimistic that excitement over her historic campaign could bring new voters to the polls and supercharge turnout among several key demographics of their base.
Harris is hitting the ground running, having already spent the year courting Democratic voters in events like her monthlong “Fight for Our Freedoms” college tour, followed by a “Fight for Reproductive Freedoms” tour.
She’s already raised $200 million in her first week of campaigning, including over 500,000 first-time contributors. Democratic headquarters in key states are seeing a surge in volunteers, and she still has opportunities such as the naming of a running mate, a four-day national convention and a possible debate with former President Donald Trump to ramp up enthusiasm even further.
Back in April, Gallup found that Democrats’ net enthusiasm for voting in this year’s election was 11 points behind Republicans’. We’ll soon see how swapping Harris for Biden changes that gap, but there’s no doubt it will be better for Democrats.
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