Trump is invigorating first-time Democratic voters ahead of midterms, pollster says

Pollster Dalia Mogahed said on Wednesday that President Trump is motivating first-time Democratic voters to cast ballots in November’s midterm elections. 

“I think he is invigorating the Democratic base to come out. A lot of people are voting for the first time, young people, people of color,” Mogahed, director of research at the Institute of Social Policy and Understanding (ISPU), told Hill.TV’s Jamal Simmons on “What America’s Thinking.” 

“I think it’s important to measure enthusiasm because it also predicts how much you’re going to talk about voting. You’re going to bring out your family, your friends your neighbor,” she continued. 

“So enthusiasm is an important factor and an important predictor of turnout really,” she said.  

ISPU primarily works to empower Muslim-Americans to develop their communities and to take part in the electoral process. 

Forty-eight percent of millennials said they would support the Democratic candidate in their district in the midterms, while 33 percent said they would support the Republican, according to a new American Barometer survey published on Wednesday. 

An American Barometer poll published last week showed Trump’s approval rating among 18- to 34-year-old voters at 42 percent, while 58 percent said they disapproved of his job in office. 

There have been significant efforts to get millennials, a group that does not typically vote in large numbers, out to the polls next month. 

Democratic mega-donor Tom Steyer has contributed $33 million toward training fellows at his organization, NextGen, to rally young voters ahead of the midterms, according to Time.

Celebrities have also moved to rally their millennial followers ahead of November’s contests. 

Taylor Swift, for example, broke her political silence in an Instagram post this month, endorsing Tennessee Democrats and urging her fans to vote in the midterms. 

Vote.org reported that around 65,000 people registered to vote in the day after Swift’s post.

— Julia Manchester