Democrats claim they have the enthusiasm edge heading into the November midterm election, but an appearance today by DNC Chairman Tom Perez may leave many wondering if that’s true.

Perez appeared at Plaza Fiesta, an “indoor Latin shopping mall” in Atlanta, stumping on behalf of gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams.

DNC Chair Tom Perez is here on Buford Highway addressing Hispanic voters. Starting out in Spanish, he said his brother was born here and his father was stationed at Fort McPherson. pic.twitter.com/wws1cozHOX

— Amanda Coyne (@AmandaCCoyne) August 15, 2018

A photo tweeted by reporter Amanda Coyne shows only a tiny group listening to Perez’s remarks.

Video shows empty seats in the front row, complete with sad-looking yet-to-be-read campaign literature.

The DNC leader praises hope rhetoric, then stoked fear.

“Michelle Obama always said, ‘We they go low, we go high.’ I have a variant of that. When they go low, we go vote,” Perez told the audience, which sat in silence, save for a chuckle or two.

“And when we put hope on the ballot, we win,” he continued.

“And when we put fear on the ballot, we don’t do so hot. Let’s face it, fear won in 2016, but let’s also face it, hope is making a huge comeback,” he said, before stoking fear.

“We’re proud to be a part of this movement to take back our democracy, because our healthcare is on the ballot, our education is on the ballot, our democracy is on the ballot,” he declared.

“And that is not being hyperbolic. America as we know it is on the ballot.”