At first glance, it doesn’t appear that way, as Trump-endorsed candidates mostly did well in GOP primaries.
But those were only Republican base voters, who are still loyal to Trump. A deeper dive into polling of the general electorate suggests Trump is hurting the GOP’s November election prospects.
That’s as it should be in a rational world, considering he’s a selfish man who only does for his party what helps him. For example, Trump is soaking up Republican dollars, but isn’t sharing any of this cash haul with his party’s candidates. The only thing he gives them is his endorsement, which costs him nothing, but he nonetheless exacts a price for it: To get it, they must endorse his election lies.
Researchers of past elections have found that 90% of voters who disapprove of a president’s job performance usually vote for the other party’s candidates.
But they’re finding that “in multiple polls this year, Republican congressional candidates are not drawing nearly that much support from voters who disapprove of Biden. That’s a measure of resistance to the Trump-era GOP even among voters disenchanted with the Democrats’ performance,” CNN says (see story here).
“Particularly noteworthy, the CNN story continued, “is that a recent Pew Research Center survey found congressional Democrats leading among voters who somewhat disapproved of Biden’s performance, while the NBC survey found them essentially breaking even with those voters. That’s a remarkable divergence from recent experience.”
Part of this year’s election dynamics is abortion-driven, and it isn’t every election year that a Supreme Court takes away a popular constitutional right. But it’s significant that dissatisfaction with Biden isn’t driving voters away from the Democrats. The only logical explanation is they don’t like the alternative.
And what’s there to like about what the Trump-era GOP stands for: Political violence, threats, coup plotting, and efforts to overthrow the will of the people?