Taegan Goddard's Political Wire

August 04, 2009

The Enthusiasm Gap 2009

Polls today in Virginia and New Jersey apparently show Republicans are significantly more motivated right now than Democrats, especially when it comes to voting in their state's gubernatorial elections this fall.

The samples from each poll show higher percentages of Republican voters expecting to vote than voted in last year's elections.

Nate Silver puts it this way: "The depth of Republican support is starting to rival the breadth of Democratic support. Sometimes, American politics resembles a screaming contest, and Republicans -- though fewer in number -- are screaming a little louder right now."

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Taegan D. Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites.

Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.

Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country, including the Washington Post, USA Today, Boston Globe, San Francisco Chronicle, Chicago Tribune, Philadelphia Inquirer and Christian Science Monitor.

Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.

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