Clinton surrogate Rep. Bennie Thompson (D., Miss.) said Tuesday that the campaign is nervous about the lack of voter enthusiasm for Hillary Clinton.
"The real thing that we're worried about is the enthusiasm gap," Thompson said. "The statistics bear out that the enthusiasm is not where it should be."
He said that Clinton is still the logical choice for the Democratic nominee since she has experts working on her campaign and her "brand is golden."
"We have professionals in the campaign. We have the right message. We have the right temperament in our candidate," Thompson said.
He lightened concern about Clinton's enthusiasm gap by saying that building passion is a process.
"I’m convinced that by the time we get to November, we'll be there. There's no sense in peaking now and trying to hold it. We need to build it," Thompson said.
Clinton's enthusiasm problem stands in contrast to impassioned voter support for rival Bernie Sanders, who has run a grass-roots campaign based on volunteers and small donations. In comparison, Clinton has relied on big donors and Super PACs for her funding. She has also been criticized for featuring ex-National Rifle Association and Wall Street lobbyists at fundraisers while grounding her platform in gun control and repairing income inequality.
Sanders has also won the support of young voters who are prone to "follow their hearts with Bernie" rather than their heads with Clinton. In comparison, Clinton has proved popular with older voters.
She is also haunted by consistently low trustworthy numbers because of her involvement in numerous scandals as well as her close ties to Wall Street. A Tuesday ABC News/Washington Post poll revealed that 4 in 10 Democrats do not see Hillary Clinton honest and trustworthy.