By CNN's Jack Cafferty:
"Fired up. Ready to go!"
Or not.
Turns out that rallying cry for Democrats in 2008 may not apply to this presidential campaign.
A new USA Today/Gallup Poll shows Democratic voter enthusiasm is down sharply from the past two presidential elections.
Only 39% of Democrats say they are "more enthusiastic about voting than usual" - that's down from 61% who felt that way in 2008 and 68% in 2004.
And it's lower than the 51% of Republicans who say they are more enthusiastic than usual about voting for president.
Voter enthusiasm often gives a sense of possible turnout but it also reflects voters' expectations of their party's chances of winning.
Translation: Democrats might be less optimistic about President Obama winning than they were four years ago.
When you consider the fact that Republicans are more excited at this point - and that they historically vote at higher rates than Democrats - it's not too encouraging for the Obama campaign.
On the other hand it's possible Democrats may just not be tuned into the race yet and that come Election Day, they'll vote, but won't be excited about it.
Meanwhile in another sign that Democrats aren't that revved up, the party is having some serious fundraising "issues."
For two months now, President Obama and the Democrats have lagged behind Mitt Romney and the Republicans to the tune of tens of millions of dollars.
And it's not just the race for president. Nancy Pelosi is having a hard time getting Democratic House members to contribute to the party.
In June, GOP lawmakers gave more than three times as much as Democrats did to their respective Congressional campaign committee.
Here’s my question to you: Why aren’t Democrats as excited to vote this year?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
Steve:
There are two reasons the Democrats are not excited to vote this year. 1) They don't have Bush in the picture, whom they passionately hated. 2) Obama has not delivered on his promises. Basically he smoked his hard-core followers.
David in Las Vegas:
Jack, I've been a Democrat for over 50 years and have believed in the party platform, until now. I'm extremely disappointed in how the president has performed so far. I have no faith whatsoever in our current Congress. I don't want to vote for either candidate.
Val in North Carolina:
Jack, The 2008 election was "thank heavens Bush is going" and "this intelligent and educated young man will be the first African-American president." That was a very exciting election. This year we know many of the things the president wanted to do to help the country didn't happen.
Ken in California:
Maybe the media helped create the excitement three or so years ago. Some of them were suggesting George W. Bush would go down as a terrible president. I don't understand why the Democrats aren't exited, or even frantic. The last time I looked, the Republican House and Senate have shut down the country in the last three and a half years. I think Election Day will answer the question
Lou:
I was excited about electing Obama because he ran on the platform of providing universal health care. But what we ended up with was just more money and power going to the insurance giants with the mandate. It was the exact opposite of what independents like me wanted. He caved on the biggest issue of our time. It's hard to get excited about that.
Annie in Atlanta:
Hey, Democrat here! I am more excited to vote this year than in 2008!