Fox News has a new poll out, released Thursday this week, demonstrating that among registered voters, Democrats are picking up steam and outworking Republicans:
“The poll, released Thursday, asked voters to think about their ‘political activity since the 2016 presidential election.’ Here’s what they say:
- Thirty-five percent ‘contacted a public official,’ (up 2 percentage points since the question was first asked in February 2017).
- One-quarter (25 percent) ‘contributed money to a political cause or candidate’ vs. 22 percent last February.
- Fifteen percent have ‘taken part in a protest march.’ It was 14 percent a year ago.
- Twelve percent say they ‘volunteered for a political candidate or cause.’
Fortunately for conservatives, according to this poll, “Republicans have upped their game when it comes to making contributions to a political cause (+12 points), communicating with a public official (+10), and participating in marches (+5).”
And it’s true that the Republican National Committee is far outraising the Democratic National Committee, prompting the DNC to hire a new finance director.
But that’s just national committees who help to elect candidates. In terms of direct contributions to candidates themselves, Democrats are raising more than the GOP.
In the GOP’s fight to cling on to the Senate, so far “Democrats had a combined $71.3 million in their campaign accounts as of the end of the [last] year, nearly four times more than the Republican candidates, who had about $20 million and must still finance primary campaigns,” according to Bloomberg. And things aren’t looking any better for the House, either.
Republicans may have a slight turnout advantage over Democrats when it comes to midterm elections, historically, but post-2016, who can trust the conventional data? Republican party officials, candidates, and especially grassroots activists and voters should take nothing for granted this time around.
