Former Pennsylvania Gov. and Hillary Clinton surrogate Ed Rendell admitted Tuesday that there is an enthusiasm gap in the presidential race among Clinton supporters.
MSNBC’s Hallie Jackson cited a Washington Post article showing that enthusiasm among African-Americans for the Democratic candidate is "lukewarm" compared to 2008 and 2012. Jackson also said that many supporters of former presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.) have said they may not vote at all this election cycle.
"Is it going to take more than a visit from President Obama to try and turn the tide for her?" Jackson asked.
"Sure. There are 55 days to go. There will be a lot of efforts with surrogates, the secretary herself, with vice presidential candidate [Tim] Kaine. I think there is an enthusiasm gap, but I don't think it’s a great gap," Rendell said.
Rendell also said that he believes the enthusiasm gap will be counterbalanced by Clinton’s turnout organizations in Pennsylvania, saying her ground game will tip the enthusiasm gap in her favor.
"Let me pull back big picture, governor, before I let you go. When you look at polls, our new NBC news polling, other polling out there, this race is tightening. Why is Hillary Clinton struggling now against a Republican candidate that the campaign clearly wanted from the beginning?" Jackson asked.
Rendell responded that the Clinton campaign is struggling because they always knew the race would get tighter, adding that he believes Clinton’s organization on the ground is better than Trump’s in Pennsylvania.
Over the last few weeks, Clinton’s lead in the polls has diminished compared to her poll numbers shortly after the Democratic National Convention. CNN reported last week that the lack of enthusiasm among Clinton supporters has spiked.
The lack of enthusiasm spikes among Clinton supporters. A majority of Clinton’s supporters say they’re less excited about voting this year than usual (55%) while most of Trump’s backers say they’re more excited this time around (56%).