Pollster Frank Luntz says the Republican Party’s tracking numbers for midterm elections are looking good, thanks to independent voters who recoil at the thought of House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi becoming speaker.
The creator of “Instant Response” polling told Fox News’ Laura Ingraham Thursday evening that a bit of political finesse by the GOP over the next few months is poised to pay off in November. If Republicans can vote on a speaker prior to midterm elections, Mr. Luntz said, then swing voters are likely to side with them in the voting booth.
“Well, I’ve been tracking this on a weekly basis going back now for a year and a half and these are the best numbers that the GOP has had in the last year,” he said, Mediaite reported. “One of the reasons is that women, working women, women with children, have begun to leave the Democratic Party. It’s not that they are pro-Republican, but what they see among the Democrats is the same kind of negativity that turned them off in previous elections.”
Mr. Luntz told Ms. Ingraham a few decisions could narrow an intensity gap that currently exists between Republicans and Democrats.
“Quite frankly, if Republicans could find some way to engineer a vote over who would be speaker of the House in January 2019, if they could engineer that vote, I would be prepared to say right now that the Republicans would keep the majority because there are so many people out there — swing voters who do not want Pelosi as speaker, that one action would make a difference,” he said.
Mr. Luntz added that the California Democrat is “the least popular credible figure” among her peers.
• Douglas Ernst can be reached at dernst@washingtontimes.com.
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