African-Americans, Youth Not Excited About 2010

{snip}

There’s some bad news for a few freshman Democrats.

The latest George Washington University Battleground poll shows black and young voters are unexcited about the idea of voting in the 2010 midterm elections.

Democratic pollster Celinda Lake, speaking at a breakfast hosted by The Christian Science Monitor, labeled the results “sobering.”

In order to test the enthusiasm for voting among groups of voters, the poll surveyed likely voters and asked how many of them were “extremely” likely to vote. In the end, 75 percent of Republicans and 66 percent of Democrats labeled themselves “extremely” likely, but just 60 percent of African-Americans and 58 percent of voters under 35 years old said they were in that category.

That could be bad for Democratic freshmen in districts with significant black minorities, like Reps. Bobby Bright (Ala.), Parker Griffith (Ala.), Glenn Nye (Va.) and Steve Driehaus (Ohio), as well as those with big college populations, like Reps. Mary Jo Kilroy (Ohio) and Tom Perriello (Va.).

{snip}