a new Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll should buoy the former and depress the latter. The survey shows Mitt Romney capturing 49% of the vote, while President Obama enjoys support from 44% of the electorate.

Taken in isolation the survey might be seen as an outlier. But a Gallup survey, released on Wednesday, seems to lend some external credence. It shows Democratic voting enthusiasm sharply down from 2008 and the same metric for Republicans markedly up.