- Washington Free Beacon - https://freebeacon.com -

Republican Voters More Enthusiastic

The presidential polls may be close, but the enthusiasm gap remains tilted heavily in Mitt Romney’s favor.

President Barack Obama has failed to galvanize supporters, as he did in his 2008 landslide victory. Republicans lead Democrats 62-49 in terms of enthusiasm for the 2012 race, according to the poll released by the conservative Resurgent Republic. That is a complete turnaround from February when a Democratic poll found Republicans trailing Democrats 58-54 following a contentious Republican primary.

Party lines are not the only troubling factor for Obama. Resurgent Republic found a large demographics gap that could give Romney an advantage heading into the conventions.

Reliable Republican demographics, such as Protestants, Evangelicals, and white men, score above the median rate of those who are extremely enthusiastic to turnout and far out pace several traditional Democratic voting groups, including Hispanic voters, unmarried, and young voters (18-to-29-year-olds). African-American voters are the exception among Obama supporters and register enthusiasm on par with Republicans…

In addition to the enthusiasm gap, President Obama is underperforming among key members of his coalition. He holds 53 percent support on the ballot among voters with household income less than $50k, down seven points from 2008. President Obama swept young voters (18-to-29-year-olds) by 66 to 32 percent in 2008, but this margin has been nearly cut in half, 53 to 35 percent. Typically a swing voting bloc in presidential elections, Catholic voters are clearly up for grabs, 47 to 47 percent.