Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton has a problem. She’s a leader without an army.
A new poll by Democracy Corps and Women’s Voices Women Vote Action Fund showed that Democrats have a huge enthusiasm gap for the 2016 election.
The Christian Science Monitor reported that 67 percent of Republicans said they have the highest level of interest in the 2016 election. That compares to only 52 percent of Democrats. Among the Obama coalition of unmarried women, minorities, and millennials, that number is even lower–at 46 percent, 53 percent, and 35 percent, respectively.
Many Democratic voters felt that the candidates were too wealthy and out of touch with the needs and concerns of everyday Americans, including Clinton.
Meanwhile, Republican voters are very excited about the upcoming presidential election.
“They don’t like [President], Obama, they don’t like Hillary Clinton,” Democracy Corps founder Stan Greenberg said to reporters.
“When they watch the Supreme Court on gay marriage and the ACA, the Affordable Care Act, they see that the only thing to stop it are the Republican presidential candidates. They are trying to stop something as opposed to Democrats who are needing to change a government that needs to be reformed…. And so it is a more complicated argument for Democrats,” Greenberg said.
NBC news reported that Obama saw similar numbers in the summer of 2012. He was able to turn the enthusiasm gap around as it became closer to election day, according to Pew Research.
If Clinton cannot pull off an Obama-style resurrection, it could mean disaster for Democrats.
In both 2010 and 2014, Gallup polls showed Republicans had a strong enthusiasm advantage that led them to winning the House and the Senate.
