Saturday, August 30, 2008

The Enthusiasm Gap


The way Obama campaign manager David Plouffe tells it, one of the most important national metrics is way underreported. That's the enthusiasm gap between supporters of Barack Obama and supporters of John McCain.

Barack Obama can fill a 75,000 seat stadium.

John McCain, it seems, is having trouble filling a 10,000 seat theater in Dayton. They're giving away free tickets in several states and plan to bus in supporters. The VP announcement can't be overshadowed by a less-than-capacity crowd.

This isn't a McCain-bashing post. McCain's campaign has got to be concerned about the relative level of excitement that the GOP base feels. One way to generate some heat is to turn Barack Obama into a boogeyman. That's had a marginal effect so far. Only McCain can close the gap.

So will his convention next week be about McCain? Or Obama?

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