Friday, August 16, 2024

Conservative pollster delivers terrible news to Trump — and worse to J.D. Vance

Tom Boggioni
August 15, 2024 


Donald Trump, J.D. Vance (Trump photo by Mandel G Ngan for AFP: Vance by Gage Skidmore)

During an appearance on MSNBC's "Morning Joe," conservative pollster Frank Luntz shared focus group footage of conservative voters who explained why they can't vote for Donald Trump this time — and complained that Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH) was a devastatingly bad choice as a running mate.

Speaking with the hosts, Luntz said there was no good news for the former president in his newest round of focus groups, with many of the participants admitting they were excited to vote for Vice President Kamala Harris and that they were appalled by Vance.

"They are tired of Trump's abuse and of Trump's personality," Luntz told the hosts before adding, "What is unique about them is you're going to see how many young women are participating now. They are the ones that switched. they are the ones who went either from undecided or supporting Kennedy, and you've notice that Kennedy's numbers have completely imploded.

"They either supported Kennedy, Trump or were undecided, and they are so excited about this younger, fresher woman running that you can see it and feel it in their intensity, in their passion and in their desire for change."

In one telling comment from a participant, she stated, "I actually was a Trump voter in '16 and '20, and it was despite his personality and a lot of the other extra issues. However, when he chose J.D. Vance it kind of pushed me over to have an open mind."

Another added, "I don't want to be taken over by Christian nationalists with Project 2025. The debate was a disaster, and the RNC looked like a wrestling match and J.D. Vance is probably the most unlikable American I can possibly think of to run our country. I just feel like we need to take the party back, and it's not going to happen if Trump or another Republican is in office right this second."

"Wow, Frank. tell us more. I mean, it seems like J.D. Vance played a big role in the changes and shifting altitudes in this campaign," co-host Mike Brzezinski remarked.

"These are ex-Republicans, conservatives who are looking at Trump and his personality, the whole Trump/Vance ticket and they are saying this is not what I want," he replied.

Asked to explain further, he stated, "Younger women are absolutely focused on that because they see someone who looks like them, and they can't emphasize that enough. It's a validation of who they are and what they want to be, and for Trump to be rude about that or abusive about that is a big mistake."

"Harris reminds some men of their first wife. Donald Trump reminds women of their first husband's divorce lawyer, and he needs to back off," he dryly added.

You can read more here.



Vance's favorability numbers plummet below Sarah Palin's: analyses

Kathleen Culliton
August 15, 2024 

(Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)


Donald Trump's running mate is less popular with American voters than Sarah Palin was as she ran alongside Sen. John McCain, polls and analyses show.

FiveThirtyEight, an aggregator of national polls, found this week that Vance's net favorability has plummeted six points from -3.3 percent on July 18 to -9.3 on Wednesday, Aug. 14.

A New Republic analysis declared Thursday, "Vance is possibly the least popular vice presidential candidate of the 21st century."

Vance's unfavorably numbers jumped more than 13 points in less than a month, with 28.9 percent of voters viewing him poorly in a July poll but 42.4 percent feeling the same way in August, according to the analysis.

The number of voters who view Vance favorably increased only 7 points from 25.6 in July to 33.1 percent in August, FiveThirtyEight reports.

ALSO READ: Trump's insatiable ego is destroying the former president

The increase in both numbers reflects Vance's growing exposure as the Republican nominee running alongside Trump, the New Republic argues.

The outlet blamed gaffes and questionable claims about cat ladies and childless Americans for the increase in unfavorable polling.

"As a result of his botched rollout, which included widespread backlash for his egregiously sexist comments and low-energy speaking events marred by gaffes, Vance’s net favorability dropped even lower," the analysis states.

"Vance is officially less liked than Sarah Palin, who is widely regarded as one of the least popular vice-presidential candidates in recent history," according to ABC News.

Vice President Kamala Harris' running mate Gov. Tim Walz (D-MN) has also seen his favorability drop, the data showed. As of Wednesday, he had a net favorability of 4.7 percent, 14 points above Vance's.

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