Liberal Democrats Top Conservative Republicans in Donations, Activism

With less than two weeks to go before Election Day, voters remain riveted to the presidential campaign. But liberal Democrats are leading the way by engaging in far more activism than other partisan and ideological groups, according to the latest national survey by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press.

By almost any measure of political interest or activity, liberal Democratic voters are more strongly connected to this election than are conservative Republicans or other voters. Fully nine-in-ten liberal Democrats (91%) say they are giving quite a lot of thought to the election; somewhat fewer conservative Republicans (84%) say they are giving a great deal of thought to the election.

However, when it comes to direct political involvement – making campaign contributions or attending events – liberal Democratic voters hold much larger advantages over conservative Republicans. More than a third of liberal Democrats (34%) say they have contributed money to any of the presidential candidates during course of this campaign, which is more than double the percentage of conservative Republicans who say they have made donations (13%). And nearly three times as many liberal Democrats as conservative Republicans say they have attended a political event during the campaign (21% vs. 8%).

The survey by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press, conducted Oct. 16-19 among 2,599 registered voters interviewed on landline phones and cell phones, finds new indications of the Internet's expanding reach in political communication. Fully 39% of voters say they have watched some form of online video relating to the election – either candidate debates, interviews with the candidates, speeches or campaign commercials.

Read the full report Liberal Dems Top Conservative Reps in Donations, Activism on the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press Web site.