'Enthusiasm Gap' Between Republicans and Democrats Shrinks

The "enthusiasm gap" between Republicans and Democrats has narrowed heading into this year's congressional elections, although Republicans continue to have the advantage, according to a Fox News/Opinion Dynamics poll conducted May 4-5.

Thirty-four percent of Republicans say they are "extremely interested" in this year's midterms compared to 24 percent of Democrats. That margin is smaller than it was in April, when the Republican lead was 42 percent to 20 percent.

A Gallup poll conducted April 26-May 2 had also showed the gap shrinking with the Republican advantage over the Democrats among "very enthusiastic" voters at 43 percent to 33 percent, compared to the GOP's highwater mark of 54 percent to 35 percent at the beginning of April, when health care reform was stirring the political pot.

On Fox's generic ballot, Republicans lead 42 percent to 40 percent with 15 percent undecided. The margin of error is three points. Last month, the Republicans led 42 percent to 38 percent.

Looking ahead to the 2012 presidential elections, the poll found President Obama against a generic Republican running evenly at 41 percent each, with 6 percent preferring another choice and 12 percent undecided. Independents favored Republicans over Democrats by 38 percent to 28 percent, with 13 percent preferring another choice and 22 percent undecided.

A Public Policy Polling survey conducted May 7 to 9 matched Obama against specific Republican opponents and found that, for the first time since February, he was leading all of them.

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