Americans revved up — and ready to vote
By Susan Page and William Risser, USA TODAY
WASHINGTON — American voters, to borrow a candidate's phrase, are fired up and ready to go.
Turnout in the opening Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primary this month smashed records. By 2-1, those surveyed in a new USA TODAY/Gallup Poll say they're more enthusiastic than usual about voting this year. Nine in 10 say it makes a difference to them who is elected president.
With the stakes high and the country's direction up for grabs, voters are poised to continue a rebound in Election Day turnout that began after dipping to a historic low in 1996, when barely over half of those eligible to vote bothered to go to the polls. High levels of interest are reshaping the races in both parties, boosting candidates who have reached out to new voters at the expense of those who targeted the ranks of the tried-and-true.
"I hate to say it, but (in past elections) I'd vote if I was available or my schedule allowed it or I remembered," says Sara Koscura, 28, a Republican and attorney in upstate Watertown, N.Y., who was among those surveyed. "Voting wasn't a high priority, but this year it is."
She supports Arizona Sen. John McCain, who won easily in New Hampshire over the better-funded Mitt Romney after pulling independent voters to the Republican primary. In Iowa, Romney's superior organization lost to Mike Huckabee, who drew a flood of conservative Christians to the caucuses.
The broadest outreach to young and independent voters has been by Democrat Barack Obama — who coined the phrase about voters being "fired up."
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http://www.usatoday.com/news/politics/election2008/2008-01-16-engaged-voters_N.htm