Dems close October's 9 point enthusiasm gap just days before midterm elections: Poll

Democrats have closed in on the GOP in enthusiasm ahead of Tuesday's elections, with one poll showing the party has closed a nine point gap in enthusiasm in just the last month.

"In January, if you told me that the national political dynamics would not improve but Democrats had a fighting chance to avert a typical first midterm shellacking, I’d take it," Democratic pollster Jeff Horwitt, one of the pollsters behind the final NBC News Poll before the midterm elections, said of his party's chances after revealing the results of the poll.

Horwitt's comments come after the NBC poll released Sunday found Democrats making a charge to close the enthusiasm gap with Republicans over the last month. Sunday's poll shows the enthusiasm gap is now tied, with 73% of Democrats and 73% of Republicans indicating a high interest in the election. Those results stand in stark contrast to last month's poll, which showed Republicans with a 78%-69% lead.

Much of what has pointed toward a big election for Republicans remained unchanged in the poll, including the number of likely voters who indicated a preference for either party. Sunday's poll shows 48% of respondents indicated they would like a Democratic-controlled Congress, while 47% said they would prefer Republicans retake the legislature. That result was within the margin of error of October's poll result, which found 48% preferred a GOP-led legislature compared to 47% who indicated a preference for Democrats.

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Among all registered voters, the poll found a 47%-47% split on who voters preferred to control Congress, an insignificant change from last month's result that showed Democrats with a one point lead.

Perhaps worse for Democrats, President Biden remains deeply unpopular, with 44% of respondents saying they approve of his performance compared to 53% who disapprove. Meanwhile, 47% of respondents said they would like to see a "great deal" of change from the direction Biden has been leading the country, a number worse than the midterm number's posted by former Presidents Donald Trump (44%), Barack Obama (41%), and Bill Clinton (36%).

OBAMA, CLINTONS HIT MIDTERM CAMPAIGN TRAIL WHILE BIDEN KEEPS LIGHT SCHEDULE

"President Biden and the Democrats are in for a miserable election," Republican pollster Bill McInturff of Public Opinion Strategies, who conducted the poll with Horwitt, said of the results.

"The Democrats have to run way ahead of the president to win a statewide race," he added. "I would expect to see to see a large number of losses in the House and possibly a switch in control of the Senate." 

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