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Voters who made up the core of President Obama's 2008 victory are just as excited and motivated about 2012 as Republicans, conservatives and tea party activists, according to a new survey.
The Democratic-leaning pollster Public Policy Polling finds that African-Americans, tea party supporters and young people are the three most motivated demographic groups going into the 2012 election cycle. According to PPP, 62 percent of black voters describe themselves as "very excited" about voting this cycle, while 55 percent of voters 18 to 29 describe themselves the same way. In 2008, 95 percent of blacks supported President Obama, and 66 percent of voters 18 to 29 backed him.
According to PPP, President Obama's electoral troubles stem from his tumble in popularity with independent voters and centrist Democrats.
"Obama's path to reelection is difficult and if the election was today and the Republican nominee was Mitt Romney I think he'd probably lose. That's because his standing has fallen so far with independents and with the more conservative wing of his own party. But it's not because those core groups that fueled his victory in 2008 have lost their enthusiasm," PPP"s director Tom Jensen wrote in a blog post.
Self-described liberals and self-described conservatives report the same level of motivation, with 54 percent describing themselves as "very excited" to get vote in 2012. Self-described Republicans, however, seem more motivated than self-described Democrats, with 54 percent registering "very excited" versus 49 percent of Democrats.