The News
Americans are significantly more enthusiastic about voting in the upcoming presidential election than they were five months ago, an increase largely driven by growing excitement among Democrats.
According to new data from Gallup, 71% of registered voters polled this month reported being more enthusiastic about voting in this election compared to those past, while 22% said they are less enthusiastic. That’s compared with 56% who said they were more enthusiastic back in March, and 40% who said then that they were less enthusiastic.
Among Democrats and Democratic-leaning voters, the percentage who said they are more enthusiastic increased by 23 percentage points in five months to reach 78% in August. That’s only one point shy of the record 79% of Democrats who reported more excitement than usual about voting in February 2008, when Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton were engaged in a heated primary and then-President George W. Bush’s approval rating was in the low 30s.
Meanwhile, 64% of Republicans reported feeling more enthusiastic about voting in this election this month, a slight increase from 59% back in March. That’s not too far off the 70% of Republicans and Republican-leaning voters who said they were enthusiastic about voting in August 2020, which represents the highest recording in Gallup’s polling history for the question.
Americans are spending more time thinking about the election as well. Some 79% of respondents told Gallup they had given “quite a lot” of thought about it, the highest number ever recorded in August of an election year. The previous record: 74% who said the same in August 2008.
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Morgan’s view
The August figures represent the first collected since Vice President Kamala Harris took over as the Democratic nominee following President Joe Biden’s decision to end his reelection bid. Recent polling showing Harris competitive against Trump nationally and in battleground states has fueled optimism among Democrats about their chances in the presidential election and down-ballot races. Republicans are coming off a July in which Trump survived an assassination attempt and headlined a relatively unified convention; his favorable numbers went up in some polls even as Harris’s vote share rose relative to Biden. Polling on relative excitement hasn’t always been a great predictor of overall turnout, but Americans did vote in 2020 at rates unseen in more than a century and the numbers suggest, at minimum, there’s still strong interest in the 2024 election.
Notable
Gallup also found that Harris’ favorability rating spiked after she replaced Biden on the Democratic ticket.
Harris has avoided interviews since she became the nominee. That will change today when she finally sits down with CNN’s Dana Bash for a joint interview with her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.