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Associated Press – October 11, 2006
Voter excitement level highest in years
By WILL LESTER
Politics is a water-cooler topic, a dinner-table subject, an issue to discuss after Sunday services, and this year the interest of American voters is at its highest level in more than a decade. That renewed attention could translate into higher voter turnout on Nov. 7, according to an Associated Press-Pew poll.
Seventy percent say they are talking politics with family and friends, and 43 percent are debating the issues at work. Among churchgoers, 28 percent share their political views, a number that rises to 34 percent among the congregations in the South.
The relationship with politics is not unrequited.
Americans have heard from the candidates and campaigns through phone calls, e-mail or one-on-one. In turn, they've participated more in the political process, attending campaign events, circulating petitions and making political donations.
"Politics comes up fairly frequently in my workplace," said Christine Adkinson, an operating room nurse in Lakeland, Fla. "Most of the physicians are Republicans and some of my fellow nurses, we are mainly against the war in Iraq and Afghanistan — we have quite lively discussions."
The embrace of the democratic process comes despite the view of some that it is flawed, with significant percentages saying their votes don't count. Only 45 percent of Democrats are very confident their votes will be counted, and only 30 percent of blacks are confident. Almost six in 10 of all voters polled had a lot of confidence their votes will be counted, according to the AP-Pew survey.
The level of interest outpaces 1994 when Republicans swept Democrats from power in Congress. It's a far cry from the weeks after the disputed 2000 presidential election when discussion of politics was verboten at many family gatherings, especially those with carving knives nearby.
The high levels of political interest are driven largely by Democratic anger and optimism that they can win in November. Republican interest is close to its usual levels though GOP, though they are less enthused than in 2002, the poll found.
The survey of 1,804 adults, including 1,503 registered voters, was conducted Sept. 21-Oct. 4 by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.
The war in Iraq and Afghanistan, fears of terrorism and anxiety that the middle-class dream is slipping away have drawn intense interest in next month's elections.
In the past, high levels of voter interest haven't always translated into votes, especially in midterm elections.
In 2002, the turnout in the top races in each state was about 77.5 million according to AP's final report on the vote. That was 40 percent of the U.S. Census estimate of the 192.7 million people eligible to vote. In 2004, the turnout for the president was almost 122.3 million, according to AP, which was 62 percent of the 197 million people eligible to vote that year.
The poll found that about nine of 10 registered voters say they almost always vote, higher than the numbers that turn out, especially in midterm elections…..
Pew Research Center: http://www.people-press.org
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