Trump’s ironclad appeal still a factor

NEWS AND OPINION:

Former President Donald Trump still has a hold on voters. A new McLaughlin & Associates survey of 1,000 likely U.S. voters has promising news for Mr. Trump. If the 2024 presidential election were held today, 49% of the respondents said they’d pick Mr. Trump, 44% would opt for President Biden. If the match were against Vice President Kamala Harris, 51% would go with Mr. Trump, and 40% with Ms. Harris. And if it were a match with his 2016 campaign rival Hillary Clinton, the poll found 51% would vote for Trump, 41% for Mrs. Clinton.

The pollster also took a close look at a subset of 468 likely Republican primary voters and found that 70% of them “want to see Donald Trump run for president again in 2024.”

The pollster also asked Republicans this question: “If Donald Trump ran for president again in 2024, would you support or oppose him for the Republican nomination?”

And the answer: 81% would support the former president, 15% would oppose him and 4% did not know.

But what about potential rivals? The pollster also compiled an additional list of 18 potential GOP hopefuls who also might enter the 2024 race, then asked the Republican voters to reveal who they would pick if the presidential election was held today.

Mr. Trump emerged with 53% of the vote, followed by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis with 13%. Former Vice President Mike Pence was in third place with 9% — followed by former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley (4%) and Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah (3%).

Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida and conservative author and commentator Candace Owens each earned 2% of the vote, while a half dozen potential candidates each garnered 1% support. That list includes Sens. Tim Scott of South Carolina and Tom Cotton of Arkansas, Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming; Govs. Larry Hogan of Maryland and Greg Abbott of Texas and former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations John R. Bolton.

Four potential candidates — Sens. Ted Cruz of Texas and Rick Scott of Florida, former CIA director and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Gov. Kristi Noem of South Dakota — each received under 1%. Former Ohio Gov. John Kasich received 0% of the vote. Another 8% of voters were undecided.

The survey of 1,000 likely U.S. voters was conducted Jan. 13-18; the survey of 468 Republican primary voters was fielded on Jan. 22.

A CHEER FOR THE DEFENSE DEPARTMENT

“Over the past decade, Department of Defense Education Activity (DODEA) students in the fourth and eighth grades have generally received among the highest assessment scores nationwide in math and reading, according to our analysis of National Assessment of Educational Progress data. For example, in 2019, DODEA’s average scores for the fourth grade math and reading assessments were higher than 98% and 100% of states, respectively. DODEA also generally had a higher percentage of students scoring at or above proficient on the fourth and eighth grade math and reading assessments, compared to other states,” advises a U.S. Government Accountability Office report released Friday.

All dependent children of U.S. military and DOD civilian employees living on a military installation with a school are eligible to attend. In 2021, 159 schools were organized into three regions that served almost 70,000 students. Find the complete report at GAO.gov.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

The annual March to Life has come and gone. But the event has left behind a noteworthy cultural legacy, courtesy of The Daily Signal — a news organization associated with The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank. The signs serve as headlines of sorts for current pro-life sentiments.

Photographer Lydia Emrich and analyst Maggie Hroncich tracked and noted them in a photo-essay titled “61 of the Best signs from the March for Life.” Here’s just a few:

“Unborn Lives Matter”; “Every life deserves a lifetime”; “Our salvation began with an unplanned pregnancy”; “Every baby deserves a birthday”; “Choose life: Your mom did”; “I’ve noticed that everyone who is pro-abortion has already been born — Ronald Reagan”; “Equal rights for babies in the womb.”

Find the rest at DailySignal.com.

A MESSAGE FROM KASICH

Could John Kasich be mulling another run for president — or even a role as vice president should the need ever arise? Let us recall that Mr. Kasich — former Republican congressman and governor of Ohio — ran for the White House in 2016 and is under the age of 70.

His campaign website is still up and running, heralding the message “Together, we can bring about a healing of America — it’s up to us!”

It also contains fundraising links to Kasich for America, a political action committee, a section titled “Vision for America” plus high-resolution photos. Mr. Kasich will launch a new podcast on Jan. 27 as well.

Then there is this message shared with Inside the Beltway, which cited President Biden’s recent press conference and his “inability to reach across the aisle,” among other things.

“Unfortunately, he championed the agenda of the far left rather than keeping his campaign promise to heal Washington and bring about bipartisanship. He needs to shift his strategy to working with moderate Republicans on many of the issues where there can be compromise, such as prescription drug costs, the child tax credit, making government more efficient and efforts to tackle inflation,” Mr. Kasich said in his message.

“As for the Republicans in Congress, they have a real opportunity to take control of the U.S. House, and maybe even the Senate. For that to happen, there needs to be a real agenda to rally around. Loyalty to a former president isn’t enough,” he advised.

Curious? See for yourself at JohnKasich.com.

POLL DU JOUR

• 71% of registered U.S. voters oppose their local community allowing noncitizens to vote in municipal elections; 89% of Republicans, 77% of independents and 50% of Democrats agree.

• 77% of Whites, 54% of Blacks and 52% of Hispanics also agree.

• 26% of voters overall favor allowing noncitizens to vote in the elections; 9% of Republicans, 19% of independents and 46% of Democrats agree.

• 20% of Whites, 41% of Blacks and 46% of Hispanics also agree.

• 3% of voters overall don’t know the answer to the issue; 1% of Republicans, 4% of independents and 5% of Democrats agree.

• 3% of Whites, 5% of Blacks and 2% of Hispanics also agree.

Source: A Fox News poll of 1,001 registered U.S. voters conducted Jan. 16-19.

Follow Jennifer Harper on Twitter @HarperBulletin.