Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign should be happy with new polling from Gallup, which shows Democratic enthusiasm among its highest ever—and Republican enthusiasm lagging far behind.
The poll, which was fielded Oct. 14-27, finds that 77% of registered Democrats or Democratic-leaning independents are more excited than usual to vote, just above 75% in 2020 and 76% in 2008. Compare that to Republicans, though: Only 67% of Republicans or Republican-leaning independents are more excited than usual.
Gallup also finds that Democrats are more likely to vote before Election Day, writing:
Democratic voters continue to be significantly more likely than Republican voters to cast early ballots. Currently, 63% of registered voters who are Democrats or Democratic-leaning independents have already voted or plan to vote before Election Day, compared with 47% of Republicans and Republican leaners. The 16-percentage-point Democratic-Republican gap is similar to what Gallup measured in the 2020 election (74% for Democrats and 56% for Republicans). Before 2020, Republicans and Democrats were about equally likely to vote early.
Which makes sense. The Republican Party has sent its voters mixed messages about early voting, promoting it at the same time they denigrate it.
And who is to say that some of those Republican early voters aren’t wives of MAGA-brained lunatics and casting secret ballots against one of the most misogynistic political platforms in recent memory?
Part of that gap in enthusiasm might be because while Harris has continued to campaign on creating a better future for voters, Trump has mostly spent his time telling MAGA crowds that the United States is a “garbage can.” He stokes fear and anger, and along with the election-fraud lies being peddled in the right-wing media sphere, it generates the opposite of enthusiasm.
The Gallup poll suggests the Harris campaign has been more successful in reaching voters too, with 42% saying they’ve been contacted by her campaign, compared with only 35% saying Trump’s campaign has reached them. That gap increases when party is factored in: 58% of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents report being contacted by the Harris campaign,versus 40% of Republicans and Republican-leaners who say they’ve heard from the Trump campaign.
But maybe it’s no surprise, considering that the world’s most obnoxious billionaire, Elon Musk, has reportedly made a mess of the Trump campaign’s outreach efforts. It might partially explain why he's desperately making voter registration into a lottery.
On Wednesday, Harris gave her closing-argument address at the Ellipse in Washington, D.C. It was the kind of presidential proof that is unlikely to do anything but boost enthusiasm. Meanwhile, trash-can mouth Trump did this:
Get out and vote if your state allows early voting!
Let's get to work electing Kamala Harris our next president! Sign up for as many shifts as you can between now and Nov. 5 to talk with progressive voters in key states who might not turn out without hearing from you!
