Final Gallup enthusiasm gap: 19 points

One can only vote and keep our fingers crossed that this plays out.

Gallup released its final polling on voter enthusiasm today, and the bottom line is that it’s record-breaking for midterm elections. In fact, for Democrats and their leaners, it’s the second-best enthusiasm level in a midterm election Gallup has seen at 44%, only topped by 2006′s 53% and their nine-point lead over the GOP in that wave election. The bad news for Democrats? Well …. Americans’ enthusiasm about voting exceeds the recent midterm election high set four years ago, with 50% of Americans and 53% of registered voters saying they are more enthusiastic than usual about voting in 2010. …

The record level of overall enthusiasm is primarily the result of Republicans’ heightened excitement — 63% of Republicans (including Republican-leaning independents) say they are more enthusiastic than usual about voting. That not only greatly exceeds Democrats’ expressed enthusiasm this year, but also is substantially higher than what Gallup has measured for either party’s supporters on the eve of a midterm election. The high level of Republican enthusiasm has led to the largest gap in enthusiasm by party of any recent midterm elections, 19percentage points. The prior highs were nine points in favor of the Democrats in 2006, and nine points in favor of the Republicans in 1994.