Polls surveying the crop of candidates in 2016 are ubiquitous and routinely talked about. For instance, several polls out this week alone suggest that Hillary Clinton is in trouble in crucial swing states and that Marco Rubio, not Jeb Bush, is ascendant in Florida. Polls also indicate that Ted Cruz has gotten a giant boost after making his presidential announcement, and may now, in fact, be a top contender for the nomination.
That's all well and good, of course, but it's important to keep in mind that nearly half of Americans are pretty much tuned out at this point to presidential politics:
The 2016 presidential campaign has gotten off to a slow start with voters. A majority of registered voters (58%) say they have given at least some thought to candidates who may run for president in 2016, but that is 10 points lower than at a comparable point in the 2008 campaign – the last time both parties had contested nominations.Yet, even at this early stage, the vast majority of voters (87%) say they care a good deal about who wins the presidency, and 72% say they care which party prevails.
Nevertheless, it seems a plurality (42 percent) of respondents have thought little, if at all, about whom they will vote for in 2016:
Perhaps we should bear that in mind. Jeb Bush, for his part, may be the frontrunner right now (or maybe not), but that counts for little when half of registered voters (and rightfully so) have more important things to think about than 2016.
Happily, however, this means that the dream is still alive. So be grateful for that.