Over the weekend, both Democrats and Republicans held their Senate District conventions. These events are a critical step on the path to state and national conventions.

The Democrats spread out across their various Senate Districts while the Republicans gathered at one location.

As compared to 2008, attendance was extremely low, per early reports. In 2008, a Democratic primary race was still brewing and Republicans were excited about their chance to retain the White House against “first-ever” Democratic candidates.

This year, the enthusiasm is just not there. Republicans are somewhat energized by their distaste for the incumbent but not excited about their likely nominee. Democrats are just hoping to retain but have lost that sense of “hope and change” that was prevalent in the last election.

Are these conventions a predictor for the upcoming election? As this blog has previously discussed, voter turnout in 2012 will likely not be as high as 2008. These conventions provide further evidence of the lack of enthusiasm even among involved partisans.

If the partisans are not excited about the election, who is?