New polling shows that JD Vance is a failure for Trump, as Democrats have successfully defined him to voters.
Semafor reported on the new data:
The main shift in how respondents viewed Vance: He’s become more and more identified with his particular brand of conservatism and less with his famed biography as an author, veteran, and politician. Presented with a list of options to describe Vance in August, the most common answers were “conservative,” “anti-woman,” and “weird,” while more positive options like “young,” “smart,” and “businessman” declined from July. The percentage calling him “extreme” shot up 13 points.
…
Of the statements offered, participants were most aware of the “childless cat lady” comments with 50% of those surveyed saying they had heard of the remarks and 55% saying they were bothered by them. Scoring worse, but less well-known: A 2021 interview with Spectrum News in which he defended a Texas abortion law’s lack of exceptions for rape and incest by suggesting pregnancies from such circumstances are “inconvenient.” Sixty-two percent of voters said they were “bothered” Vance used the word “inconvenient” to describe pregnancies that stem from rape and incest with 50% reporting “it bothers me a lot.”
What the data reveals is that the Democratic messaging about JD Vance being a weird extremist has worked. Vance has been defined as somebody who is strange and holds positions that are out of step with most of America.
Vance’s other has been that his running mate and the Trump campaign have not lifted a finger to defend him. Trump made it clear that Vance doesn’t matter and is irrelevant.
Trump has been sending JD Vance around the country because he is too lazy to campaign, and that is turned into a terrible strategy because Democrats have defined the senator from Ohio as a weird extremist who turns off voters.
The more Donald Trump puts Vance out there the greater the harm it does to his campaign.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
