The authors of an internal Republican National Committee (RNC) poll are suggesting that President Donald Trump’s best option to forestall a mid-term disaster is to continue targeting California Democratic Rep. Nancy Pelosi.
The internal poll, which was published Tuesday and conducted by Public Opinion Strategies, asks registered voters who they preferred in a match-up pitting Trump against Pelosi. Respondents preferred Pelosi-aligned candidates over Trump-aligned candidates, 50 percent to 45 percent. But the pollsters say going after the Democratic lawmaker might be the best play because it “helps coalesce the GOP base.”
They urged Republicans to keep hammering this message: “America would simply turn back the clock if Democrats take control of Congress and liberal Nancy Pelosi and her allies get to enact their agenda; it could mean higher taxes, open borders, the end of Medicare as we know it, and the end of ICE.”
Republicans have spent years depicting Pelosi as an out-of-touch elitist who constantly demeans rural voters living in the Rust Belt and in other swing states. This strategy helped the GOP gain seats in the past two midterm cycles, 2010 and 2014, and helped the party win the White House in 2016.
The RNC survey, which was obtained by Bloomberg Businessweek and conducted between Aug. 29 and Sept. 2, finds that voters favor the Democratic candidate by 9 points over the Republican on a generic congressional ballot. (RELATED: REPORT: Complacent Trump Supporters Could Lead To Blue Wave)
The same poll shows that about 50 percent of Republican voters think it’s unlikely Democrats will win back the House, while 37 percent thought there was a chance the Republican would lose.
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