The 2010 enthusiasm gap

The special election being held in Massachusetts to find a permanent replacement for Sen. Ted Kennedy may end up being a good indicator of the enthusiasm gap that may exist between Democrats and Republicans heading into the 2010 midterm COngressional elections:

As the two candidates running in the special Senate election here barnstormed across the state Saturday, the enthusiasm gap between the two parties was on vivid display.

Democrat Martha Coakley, Massachusetts’ attorney general, kicked off a series of stops with a morning speech at a Boston union hall, receiving a response more polite than enthusiastic.

Coakley and Vicki Kennedy, the widow of the late senator, both addressed a crowd of about 100 electrical workers but it fell to a state representative from nearby Dorchester to deliver the closing remarks aimed at firing up the Democrats.

“I see there is some excitement in this room but there is not enough excitement in this room,” Martin Walsh said, as the heavily male, Carhartt-and-jeans crowd stood with hands in pockets.

There was no need for such an exhortation on Cape Cod as state Sen. Scott Brown, the Republican nominee, was enveloped by a couple hundred, sign-waving supporters as he attempted to walk into a local pub where another hundred voters waited for an afternoon rally.

If Democrats struggle to muster the same enthusiasm they had in the 2008 elections, 2010 could prove to be a bloodbath for Democrats across the country. There’s no doubt the Tea Party movement has energized conservatives, so it will be interesting to see if Democrats can counter that enthusiasm. Speaking in support of Democratic candidate Martha Coakley, President Obama called for Coakley’s supporters to get more fired up, underscoring the struggle Democrats are having to sustain a high level of enthusiasm.