Many hesitate about GOP in midterms over ‘feckless’ message

NEWS AND OPINION:

The Republican Party needs to ramp up its election outreach or lose voter support, at least according to a very succinct survey. 

Indeed, the proverbial Grand Old Party may not be so grand right now. The GOP’s popular appeal is not resonating with voters as the clock relentlessly ticks toward Election Day.

“Have Republicans made a strong enough case as to why they should earn your support in the 2022 midterm elections?” asks a Trafalgar Group poll of “likely general election voters” released Tuesday.

And the results: 56% of the respondents said the GOP message has not reached them, a third agreed that the party had made a strong enough case to make their point, while the rest were unsure.

“Considering the failure of Afghanistan, inflation, student loans, the recession we are in, the attempted vaccine mandates, the border, and President Biden’s dark and dangerous speech recently, the Biden administration has been a complete disaster, and his record low approval numbers show that. Logically, one would think that national Republicans would be riding high, able to take advantage of this situation to create momentum,” said Mark Meckler, president of the Convention of States, in a written statement shared with Inside the Beltway.

“Yet, the fact is the feckless leadership, poor communication, and what appears to be a non-existent strategy is causing voters to say loud and clear: you need to try harder. If the GOP thinks they are just going to win this thing by not being Joe Biden, they are sorely mistaken,” he added.

But back to the numbers.

A hefty 87% of Democrats said Republicans had failed to make their case, along with 57% of independents, and even 26% of Republican voters themselves.

The poll also found that 64% of voters ages 25-34 and 61% of those ages 35-44 also agreed that the GOP had not made that “strong enough case” to win their support.

The numbers were highest among Black voters (69%) and Hispanic voters (63%) — though 54% of White voters also said the GOP message was missing.

Message to the Republican Party: Get a message.

The source is a Convention of States Action/Trafalgar Group poll of 1,084 U.S. likely voters conducted Sept. 2-5.

FOR THE LEXICON

“The Pay Cut President.”

This handy term comes for Tommy Pigott, rapid response director for the Republican National Committee.

“The new consumer prices report has busted President Biden’s spin – inflation is still surging,” he said in a statement.

Indeed, the U.S. consumer price inflation was up 8.3% in August compared to a year ago, the U.S. Labor Department said Tuesday.

“Consumer prices have been at or above 5% for 16 straight months. Real wages have been negative for 17 straight months,” Mr. Pigott said.

“Declining real wages and poorer families – those are the realities of the economy delivered by the Pay Cut President,” he noted.

INFLATION NATION

“Inflation remains at record highs as reports this morning show inflation reached 8.3% in August — higher than economists predicted. And food costs are still skyrocketing, reaching 11.4% over the last year — the largest 12-month increase since the period ending May 1979,” noted Cally Perkins, press secretary for the Congressional Leadership Fund.

“Guess the ‘Inflation Reduction Act’ was just misinformation,” she observed in a statement.

“Democrats’ failed policies continue to cripple the economy and leave working families behind. Americans who are ready to get the economy back on track and make life affordable again will vote out Democrats in November,” Ms. Perkins said.

FOXIFIED

During the week of Sept. 5-11, Fox News enjoyed more viewers throughout the daytime hours than any other network on cable TV, drawing an average audience of 1.4 million. This also marked the 36th consecutive week Fox News has aced rivals during the day, easily besting MSNBC’s 721,000 viewers and CNN’s 605,000.

It was a similar story during the crucial primetime hours, with the Fox News audience numbering 2.1 million while MSNBC garnered 1 million and CNN 695,000. As usual, “The Five” garnered the largest audience of all with an average of 3.2 million daily viewers.

Meanwhile, the late-night comedy of “Gutfeld!” attracted an average nightly audience of 2.2 million, besting CBS’s “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” (1.9 million), NBC’s “The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon” (1.6 million) and ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” (1.4 million).

In addition, Shannon Bream’s debut as the host of “Fox News Sunday” drew a very respectable audience of 2.1 million.

In the mornings, “Fox & Friends” ruled the cable news airwaves with 1.3 million viewers, besting morning offerings on MSNBC and CNN for the 77th week in a row. CNN’s “New Day” attracted 410,000 viewers while MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” posted 916,000.

FOREVER GREEN-MINDED

A certain former vice president has not forgotten his favorite calling.

Al Gore, who founded the Climate Reality Project in 2005, has announced that his organization will once again host a 24-hour online event on Oct. 7 emphasizing “bold global solutions” to climate change.

“We know the climate crisis is an existential challenge,” Mr. Gore said in public outreach.

Clean energy and “inclusive green communities” are among the items on his agenda. Mr. Gore, 74, also has written six books on climate issues. In 2007, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, along with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, for “informing the world of the dangers posed by climate change.”

Well, there you go.

Curious about all this? Find Mr. Gore’s project at 24HoursofReality.org.

POLL DU JOUR

• 45% of U.S. adults think the “best indicator” of an economic recession is the prices of goods and services that they buy.

• 20% say the best indicator of a recession is whether the economy is shrinking or growing.

• 11% think the best indicator is the unemployment rate and jobs reports.

• 6% cite their personal finances as the best indicator.

• 6% say the stock market is the best indicator.

• 11% say they don’t know.

SOURCE: An Economist/YouGov poll of 1,500 U.S. adults conducted Sept. 3-6.

• Follow Jennifer Harper on Twitter @HarperBulletin.