News/Commentary

Shock poll reflects radical swing in under a month on preferred 2024 Republican nominee

November 13, 2022 | | Print Article

A new survey suggests bad news for former President Donald Trump: Following the disappointing midterm elections, Republicans and Republican-leaning Independents have had a change of heart and are now backing Florida Governor Ron DeSantis as the GOP’s 2024 nominee.

“More Republicans and Republican-leaning Independents now say they’d prefer DeSantis (42%) as their 2024 presidential nominee over Trump than say they’d prefer Trump to DeSantis (35%),” the poll, conducted by YouGov after Tuesday’s elections, found. “That’s a reversal from nearly a month ago, when — according to a Yahoo News/YouGov poll of U.S. adults — just 35% preferred DeSantis and 45% said they preferred Trump.”

Even among those who are “strongly” Republican, the base is divided.

“People who say they strongly identify as Republicans are more likely to prefer Trump yet are still nearly evenly divided,” YouGov reports. “Independents who lean toward the Republican Party, on the other hand, are more than twice as likely to prefer DeSantis to Trump.”

It’s a 17-point swing from a month ago according to a previous Yahoo! News/YouGov poll, Mediaite reveals.

“But the most recent pre-midterms poll with a similar sample size and pollster rating shows an even more brutal swing. Just days before the election, Trump led DeSantis by 22 points in a Morning Consult poll — a 29-point swing,” the outlet reports.

The reasons for the shift are not difficult to discern.

Outside MAGA strongholds, Trump-endorsed candidates largely failed to meet expectations among voters. Rather than a wave, Republicans got a trickle, and the blame game started even before the ballots were cast and votes were fully tallied.

As American Wire reported, Trump blasted Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) in early October for failing to fund his chosen candidate for the US Senate in Arizona, Republican Blake Masters.

“The Old Broken Crow, Mitchell McConnell, is authorizing $9 Million Dollars to be spent in order to beat a great Republican, Kelly, instead of $9 Million Dollars that could be used for Blake Masters, and other Republicans, that with this money would beat their Democrat opponent,” Trump fumed.

But, while McConnell certainly deserves his place on the metaphorical chopping block for choices that fail to put America first, many feel Trump has become his own worst enemy.

His recent repeated attacks on DeSantis, whose state delivered the only Red Wave of the elections, have shocked even his most loyal supporters.

In a lengthy rant on Truth Social, Trump called DeSantis an “average” governor and took credit for saving his “politically dead” career.

“Ron came to me in desperate shape in 2017—he was politically dead, losing in a landslide to a very good Agriculture Commissioner, Adam Putnam, who was loaded up with cash and great poll numbers. Ron had low approval, bad polls, and no money, but he said that if I would Endorse him, he could win,” Trump stated.

At a time when unity in the Republican party is vital, and when Herschel Walker is heading into a runoff against Raphael Warnock for a coveted Senate seat in Georgia, the attacks are being seen as narcissistic and counterproductive to the bigger picture.

In the meantime, DeSantis’s 19.5-point victory over Democrat opponent Charlie Crist gave conservatives a real reason to cheer.

“DeSantis’ victory in the state was so dominate that he won 62 of the state’s 67 counties, including 59 by double digits,” the Daily Wire reports.

And the Florida governor’s leadership skills were once again on full display as the state stared down yet another hurricane.

“Within 24 hours of Hurricane Nicole making landfall, 95% of customers who lost power have been restored,” DeSantis tweeted on Friday. “Thank you to the 22,000 linemen who stood ready and responded in record time.”

“This is why DeSantis won re-election by 20% points,” one Twitter user noted.

As for Trump’s attacks against him, DeSantis is reportedly staying out of the drama.

“DeSantis team is not commenting on Trump’s recent tirade on his social platform,” tweeted ABC News investigative reporter Katherine Faulders, “but sources close to him tell me & @jayobtv that the governor’s strategy is to not engage and he has no intention of responding to the attacks. (Something that is sure to anger Trump even more)”

 

Melissa Fine
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