Democrats closing the 'enthusiasm gap,' Times/USC poll finds

[cal04]

Democrats closing the 'enthusiasm gap,' Times/USC poll finds
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/california-politics/2010/10/california-voters-enthusiasm-poll.html

Has the much-vaunted “enthusiasm gap” in the 2010 election begun to narrow? At least in California, that seems to be the case, according to the latest Los Angeles Times/USC poll.

The survey asked respondents to rate on a 10-point scale how enthusiastic they felt about voting this year. In September, when the poll asked that question, Republicans had a big advantage, with 42% of registered Republicans statewide rating their enthusiasm as a 10, compared with 27% of registered Democrats. In the latest survey, conducted statewide Oct. 13-20, that 15-point gap had nearly disappeared: 39% of registered Republicans rated their enthusiasm at 10, compared with 35% of registered Democrats.

A similar pattern shows up on ideology. In September, poll respondents who identified themselves as “conservative” were far more likely to rate their enthusiasm at 10 than those who said they were “liberal” -- 45% to 27%. In the October survey, the two were nearly at parity -- 40% of conservatives and 38% of liberals, a gap within the poll’s 2.5% margin of error.

How will all this affect the outcome of the races for U.S. Senate and governor? Full results of the poll will appear in Sunday’s Los Angeles Times and will be released Sunday morning on latimes.com.