My must read is "Poll: Dems face midterm enthusiasm gap with young voters," in the Hill:
Democrats are facing an enthusiasm gap with young Americans, according to a new survey of millennials, a result that echoes surveys of the wider national population.
The poll, conducted by the Harvard Institute of Politics, shows 44 percent of 2012 Mitt Romney voters aged 18-29 saying they’ll definitely vote this fall, and 35 percent of 2012 Barack Obama voters saying the same.
National polling has shown Republican voters across the board are consistently more enthusiastic about voting this cycle, which is bad news for Democrats as they brace for an expected steep turnout drop-off in November that could complicate their chances of keeping the Senate and would make it difficult to pick up seats in the House.
At a Tuesday press conference, Minority Whip Steny Hoyer said, "I think health care at worst is going to be a neutral in this election … This is not the holy grail of this election."
The idea that the worst scenario is that the law is "neutral" is preposterous. It wasn’t "neutral" in the last midterm elections and overall disapproval is higher today than it was then; it certainly will not be neutral. Right now Hoyer is wrong and making a prediction that defies the most basic polling facts.
A large reason health care seems to be the "holy grail" of 2014 is because of the significant enthusiasm gap. The voters that tend to come out in midterms already favor Republicans. Yesterdays, WaPo/ABC poll reiterated that and so does this Harvard poll.
Young people may not be a common voting block in midterms, but they have been a significant factor in helping Democrats win in the last two elections. The lack of enthusiasm amongst them is part of a broader problem plaguing Democrats: their base isn’t planning to vote in November (at least not like the GOP base).
The people planning to vote are Republican demographics, and no one needs to be reminded that the majority of Republicans do not support Obamacare.
Voter enthusiasm is about turnout. The people who despise this law are the ones that are poised to show up at the polls, and they won’t let this be a "neutral" issue.