Trafalgar is a Republican polling firm. This week they surveyed likely Ohio Republican voters before the leak was out about Trump taking a massive bribe from German-born neo-Nazi billionaire, Peter Thiel to endorse his clownish retainer, J.D. Vance for the open Senate seat. Look at these two charts, the first showing that most Ohio Republicans are so pathetically brain-dead that that will vote for whomever Trump tells them to vote for (54.9%). Interestingly 25.7% of Republicans say they them vote against anyone Trump endorses! And the second chart-- again, before it leaked that Vance is the Trump pick-- shows that crackpot Josh Mandel is running significantly ahead of crackpot JD Vance. (It also shows that Gibbons' brief first place standing has completely dissapaited and that all the establishment backing for Timken is worth nothing at all.)
Predictably, all the other Republican candidates were busy yesterday and today trying to head Trump off at the pass and not endorse the unpopular Vance, widely seen as a RINO in MAGA world and as a treasonous Putinista by normal Americans. The furious efforts failed this afternoon when Trump pulled the trigger for Vance. If Vance loses the primary-- a distinct possibility-- or if he wins the primary and then loses the general election, Trump's influence on the Republican Party will take a very serious hit.
With an eye toward influencing Trump’s inner circle, on Thursday morning, Remington Research, a polling firm connected to former state treasurer Josh Mandel’s campaign, began circulating to top Republicans a polling memo arguing that a Trump endorsement of Vance would fail to vault Vance into serious contention.
“JD Vance will still lose even with President Trump’s endorsement. JD Vance is widely known by Republican Primary voters for his Never-Trumper comments and his calling Trump supporters ‘racists,’” Titus Bond, the Remington Research Group president, wrote in the memo. “Since he is already known to Ohioans as a self-proclaimed ‘Never Trumper’ and voters will forcefully be reminded of that, Vance will still lose even with President Trump’s endorsement.”
According to the memo, even with a Trump endorsement, Vance would only be in fourth place with 15 percent.
A collection of more than three dozen county GOP chairs and state party central committee members-- including some from the state’s most populous counties-- also banded together to sign a letter urging Trump not to endorse Vance, noting that he “referred to your supporters as ‘racists’ and proudly voted for Evan McMullin in 2016.”
“While we were working hard in Ohio to support you and Make America Great Again,” they wrote in a letter obtained by Politico, “JD Vance was actively working against your candidacy.”
...Trump also heard recently from Club for Growth President David McIntosh-- a Mandel supporter-- who traveled with Trump over the weekend to a North Carolina rally. Trump has told people that, during the trip, McIntosh tried to sway him from endorsing Vance, according to one person with knowledge of Trump’s remarks. The Club did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Trump on Wednesday announced he will hold a rally next weekend outside of Columbus, further fueling the impression that he intends to take a position in the Senate race. The contest is one of the year’s most expensive Senate primaries so far, generating $55 million in television ad spending.
People have already been voting but this is what Thiel got for his money:
Another Republican poll, from Landmark Communications, of Georgia Republicans shows that GOP voters down there don't seem to give a shit what Trump tells them to do. The Republican governor, Brian Kemp, who he has explicitly said is his enemy and who he once hinted is so bad that he would back Democrat Stacey Abrams rather than Kemp-- is way ahead of Trump backed former Senator (loser) David Purdue. Purdue-- who had no intention of running-- was not just personally recruited by Trump but is the only Trump-backed candidate in the entire country whose campaign Trump is significantly helping to finance. According to the new poll, Kemp is beating him 52-28%.
Meanwhile Democrats are holding out hope that Trump is endorsing-- and will help win GOP nominations-- such extremists that it will kill Republican chances in the midterms. This is really foolish and allows the Democrats to feel ok about not earning votes by passing good legislation. Niall Stanage echoed DCCC and DSCC patheticness: "Democrats believe Trump’s backing of flawed candidates in Republican primaries could saddle the GOP with losers in the general election. They also hope Trump will retain his status as a powerful motivator of Democratic voters even when he isn’t on the ballot. Then there is the long shadow of the Jan. 6 insurrection. The House select committee investigating the riot is expected to release a report into its findings in the months to come-- just as the campaign for the midterms starts heating up." Otherwise sensible members of Congress have told me they actually believe this.
the assumption has always been that trump will only "endorse" those who bury their noses up his sphincter. But this kind of indicates that he'll sell his "endorsement" for enough cash. not that it's out of character at all... just hadn't seen it.
it really doesn't matter. either of the top 2 nazis that wins the primary will be sworn into the $enate because they SHALL be elected. Every nazi voter will show up whether they are enthusiastic or not about their nominee. And the democraps will NOT be showing up in numbers because their party and admin has done LESS THAN NOTHING (nothing positive plus refusing to do anything to prevent continued nazi negatives).
AND, topping it off, as…