Niall Stanage at The Hill writes on how the enthusiasm gap for Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton might adversely affect her chances in November.
From The Hill:
What matters more in winning elections: voter enthusiasm or the ground game?
It’s a question that has long been debated among political operatives and is now being put to the test in this year’s presidential election.
Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton is running her operation by the book, spending millions of dollars on staff, TV ads, data modeling and field office in battleground states.
Her Republican rival, Donald Trump, has done little of that. He has relied largely on media coverage to fuel his candidacy and has called data-led political activity “overrated.” His field operation is skeletal, leaning instead on the more extensive network put in place by the Republican National Committee (RNC).
But, for all that, Trump is competitive, recently pulling ahead of Clinton in polls of swing states like Ohio and Florida, and reducing the Democrat’s lead in national polls to around a single percentage point.
One reason for his strength: People who intend to vote for him are more enthusiastic about doing so than those planning to back Clinton, according to three major recent polls.
That fact alone makes some Republicans bullish about Trump’s prospects.
“You can have all the infrastructure you want, but if people are not inspired or excited to vote for you, then it is not going to do you any good,” said Michael Steele, a former chairman of the RNC. “You can have very little, or weak, infrastructure, but if you create momentum or a force majeure that wins the argument.”
Read the rest here.
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