Narrowing the intensity gap (Kos)

[jefferson_dem]

Narrowing the intensity gap
by kos

Narrowing the intensity gap
Fri Mar 26, 2010 at 08:32:03 AM PDT

This past year I've been obsessed with the issue of voter intensity. While Democrats continue to hold their ground on voter preference (generic congressional numbers), their biggest danger moving into the fall was a lack of excitement and energy on our side. Coupled with the extremely (and violently) high intensity on the other side, it mattered little if voters preferred Democrats, if the voters at the polls were overwhelmingly Republican.

Every week, we track voter intensity in our weekly state of the nation poll. Look at the numbers from the last three weeks:

QUESTION: In the 2010 Congressional elections will you definitely vote, vote, not likely vote, or definitely will not vote?
3/8-10 3/15-18 3/22-25
Dem GOP Dem GOP Dem GOP

Def vote 20 25 23 27 27 29
Vote 20 26 22 29 28 33
Not Likely 28 19 27 18 22 15
Def not vote 4 2 4 3 3 2
Not sure 28 28 24 23 20 21

This is astonishing. Three weeks ago, 40 percent of Democrats were likely or definitely going to vote, compared to 51 percent of Republicans -- an 11 point "intensity gap". Two weeks ago, as the battle for health care reform heated up, and GOP obstructionism came in full view, the numbers were 45 percent for Democrats, 56 percent for Republicans -- both sides equally riled up.

This week, the numbers are 55 percent for Democrats, 62 percent for Republicans. While both sides saw big spikes in their numbers, Democrats were particularly energized, with that intensity gap narrowing from 11 points to a far more manageable seven.

We said it all along -- give us a reason to get excited and fight, and Democrats will get excited and itch for a fight. Heck, you can see it in our traffic numbers!

...

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2010/3/26/851011/-Narrowing-the-intensity-gap

[Aloha Spirit]

1. Thanks for posting this!

It was exactly what I was wondering about this week.
I would like to know if any change was purely a response to news drama, or if Democrats are responding to the Republican attacks or Democrats' success or both.
What I would like to see even more is the antagonistic Republican position against financial regulation reforms.
Please can we have that before November?
:-)

If you see more articles that discuss this, please post them.

Thanks again

-AS