The Democratic National Convention kicks off tonight with party leaders poised to answer the critical question posed by Republicans recently: Are Americans better off now than they were four years ago? CNN Contributor and Democrat Strategist Maria Cardona joins John Berman and CNN Congressional Correspondent Dana Bash on “Early Start” this morning to share her take on DNC.
Given that the latest Gallup poll shows Republicans are more enthusiastic about voting than Democrats at 39% to 51%, Cardona admits that “it’s going to be very challenging” for President Obama to repeat the kind of enthusiasm he had in 2008 for this election, when Democrats were more enthusiastic about voting than Republicans at 61% to 35%.
She says President Obama will use this convention to rebuild that enthusiasm. “He’s going to be talking about the context under which he accepted the role of president four years ago,” she says. “He’s going to be talking about what he’s going to be doing to continue on the path forward for the focus of middle class families.”
Cardona also responds to Bash’s question about disappointment in the president among Democrats.
“As we know, there is disappointment, but the Republicans need to be careful about one word, and that word is ‘context’,” she says. “Voters are more willing than they have been in a long time to look at this election in context, understanding what the president was handed, understanding that he got zero help from the Republicans.”