Republican voters say they’re more likely to and more eager to vote in the upcoming 2018 midterms than Democrats are, according to a June poll by Rasmussen.
Those polled were asked two simple questions: “Are you more likely or less likely to vote this year than you have been in past election years,” and, “[a]re you more likely or less likely to vote in the next election for a member of the House or Senate who opposes President Trump’s agenda? Or will this have no impact on your vote?”
The poll found that 70% of likely GOP voters are more amped to vote this year than they have been in past years. Only 64% of Democrats and 51% of those unaffiliated said the same.
Interestingly, this increased enthusiasm for voting in general has gone up in the past few years, especially since the landmark 2016 elections—”in July 2014, 57% said they were more likely to vote that November compared to past elections. Enthusiasm was higher two years ago [in 2016] during the presidential campaign, with 67% who said they were more likely to vote.”
That’s possibly a sign that while opposition to Trump may be motivating Democrats to go to the polls, it might also be driving conservatives who support the president there as well.
But this motivator doesn’t split equally:
“Forty-eight percent (48%) of voters say they are more likely to vote in the next election for a member of the House or Senate who opposes President Trump’s agenda. Just half as many (24%) say they are less likely to vote for a Trump opponent. Twenty-two percent (22%) say a congressional incumbent’s support or opposition to the president will have no impact on their vote.”
So it would seem that the Democrat base is more opposed to Trump than Republican voters are united around him . . . or could this discrepancy be explained by the “shy Trump voter” theory that those who support the president are less likely to be vocal about it?
Either way, more Republicans gearing up to go to the polls in November is a good sign for conservatives.
