We talked recently about a troubling trend for President Obama in several polls -- he fares far better among registered voters than likely voters. There are a whole lot of folks who prefer him to Mitt Romney, but they just don't intend to show up when it counts.
A new CNN poll (pdf) of Floridians helps drive the point home nicely.
Among those in the state likely to actually cast a ballot, Romney has a narrow, one-point lead. Among Floridian voters overall, Obama leads by six.
To reiterate the larger point, the good news for Democrats is that Obama, with just a week to go, appears to have some room to grow -- there are voters out there who want him to win, but are inclined to stay on the sidelines. If they can be motivated to cast a ballot, the president's odds improve considerably.
The good news for Republicans is that there's only a week to go, and a significant, potentially determinative, number of Obama supporters in Florida -- the largest swing state in the nation -- would rather stay on the couch than vote.
To be sure, in much of the country, Republican policymakers have waged a "war on voting," intended to restrict and discourage Democratic voters from accessing their own democracy. But what's jarring is the notion of Obama supporters doing Republicans' job for them by having the opportunity to elect their preferred candidate, but choosing not to.
