The GOPAC Newsletter

News of Interest

WG Economy: If Voters Don’t Believe In

Bidenomics, What Do They Believe?

WG Economy | David Winston

September 27, 2023

The trouble with Bidenomics has been that voters don’t believe the White
House claims of economic progress. The President spent August on the road
promoting Bidenomics, but there is a disconnect with voters that continues
to baffle Democrats. From a previous survey for Winning the Issues, we
found that voters did not believe the President’s statement earlier in the
summer that the annual inflation rate had fallen for ten months straight
(27-55 believe- do not believe). The last two consecutive CPI reports have
shown some uptick in inflation, but over the long term, it has come down
from its high point in the summer of 2022. However, the cumulative rate of
inflation is why people aren't seeing any relief in prices. Our latest
Presidential Inflation Rate shows the cumulative level of inflation is
17.4% for the Biden presidency, meaning that prices have gone up over 17%
since Biden took office. With that prolonged level of inflation, voters
believe inflation is still getting worse (60%) rather than better (16%) or
not changing (21%), from our latest survey for Winning the Issues
(September 13-14). [1]WG Economy, September 27, 2023.pdf

5 Takeaways From Another

Trump-Free Republican Debate

The party's front-runner took few hits as his rivals bickered, Nikki Haley
delivered an assured performance, Tim Scott reasserted himself, and Ron
Desantis took his first debate swipes at Trump.

The New York Times | Shane Goldmacher, Maggie Haberman, & Jonathan Swann

September 28, 2023

As he sat in the spin room with the Fox News host Sean Hannity after the
second Republican debate on Wednesday night, Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida
accurately summed up the spectacle he had just participated in.

“If I was at home watching that,” Mr. DeSantis said, “I would have changed
the channel.”

The meandering and at times indecipherable debate seemed to validate former
President Donald J. Trump’s decision to skip it. With only occasional
exceptions, the Republicans onstage seemed content to bicker with one
another. Most of them delivered the dominant front-runner only glancing
blows and did little to upend the political reality that Mr. Trump is
lapping all of his rivals — whose cumulative support in most national polls
still doesn’t come close to the former president’s standing. [2]Read more

GOP concerns grow over Trump presence in House races

Democrats, meanwhile, have the edge on abortion and health care, according
to the new NBC News poll

The Hill | Julia Manchester

September 26, 2023

GOP concerns are mounting over the impact former President Trump could have
on competitive House races this cycle if he's the nominee as the party
looks to hold onto its narrow majority in the lower chamber.

Many Republicans blamed the former president last cycle for the party's
lackluster performance in what was supposed to be a red wave year.

This time around, Republican primary voters are falling in line behind
Trump, but fears persist he could drive away moderate and independent
voters in swing districts across the country. [3]Read more

Democrats plan to track and corner

Republican 2024 candidates on Trump

Reuters | Jarrett Renshaw

September 26, 2023

When Republican U.S. Representative Don Bacon was asked if he supports
Donald Trump's bid for the White House next year at Nebraska town hall last
month, he batted away the question, saying it was too early to say, given
the former president hadn't yet secured the nomination.

Despite the non-answer, a Democratic activist with a video camera filmed
the exchange, and it was quickly blasted online with the headline Bacon
"refuses to tell Nebraskans if he supports Trump.

The attempt to tie a vulnerable Republican like Bacon is a scenario likely
to be repeated in competitive districts around the country in the months to
come, Democratic strategists tell Reuters. While U.S. President Joe Biden
and his reelection campaign have rarely commented on Trump's string of
criminal indictments, Democrats running for state and local office across
the nation are taking the opposite tactic and making the charges a key part
of their campaign. [4]Read more

Republicans' anti-Trump effort flounders as the former president cruises
ahead

Republicans hoping for a 2024 standard-bearer other than

Trump worry that it may be too late.

NBC News | Vaughn Hillyard & Ben Kamisar

September 25, 2023

This state (SC) could be the last dam holding back Donald Trump from
bulldozing his way to his third Republican presidential nomination - yet so
far, none of the rival campaigns or their related super PACs have devoted
significant advertising dollars to explicitly attacking him.

There is no major anti-Trump super PAC or significant donor financing a
push to topple him as the party's leader, and there is concern that, at
this point, spending financial or political capital to undercut Trump is a
fool's errand. [5]Read more

Debate moderator Dana Perino: 'It's crunch time' for Republican 2024
hopefuls

Perino says if a candidate wants a breakout debate moment,

they may have to go after Trump

Politico | Kelly Garrity

September 25, 2023

Donald Trump's dominance over the Republican primary field is on the
precipice of no return. Fox News is approaching this week's debate as if
it's now or never for everyone else.

"It's crunch time for them," Fox News host Dana Perino told POLITICO ahead
of Wednesday's debate. "They have supporters and donors who want to see a
breakout moment."

During the first debate in August, candidates spent more time attacking
Democratic President Joe Biden than they did the OP front-runner. Perino
says if they want to succeed on the stage in California, they may have to
go after Trump. [6]Read more

Longtime Democrat Dallas Mayor Switching To GOP: 'American Cities Need
Republicans'

Daily Wire | Zach Jewell

September 22, 2023

Democratic Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson announced in a Wall Street Journal
op-ed Friday that he will switch his party affiliation to Republican.

Johnson, who served nine years as a Democrat in the Texas Legislature
before being elected mayor in 2019, wrote that "American cities need
Republicans - and Republicans need American Cities."

"I have no intention of changing my approach to my job. But today I am
changing my party affiliation," Johnson added. "Next spring, I will be
voting in the Republican primary. When my career in elected office ends in
2027 on the inauguration of my successor as mayor, I will leave office as a
Republican. [7]Read more

WG Discussion Points: Which Party's

Messages Matched Voter Priorities

WG Discussion Points | David Winston

September 22, 2023

The latest survey from Winning the Issues (September 13-14) sheds some
light on what voters are hearing from Republicans and Democrats in
Congress. We asked voters about a series of 18 news stories and asked them
to rate each on a scale of 1-5, with 1 not important, 3 important, and 5 is
extremely important. Note that this is not the same as the top issue in how
they will vote. This list includes a mix of issues, news stories, and
current events to assess what is breaking through. We followed up by asking
voters about the same list and on a 1-5 scale asked how much they were
hearing about each from Congressional Republicans and Democrats. Using the
mean score, the chart below shows how each news item ranked in order of
importance, and how it ranked in order of what they were hearing from each
side. [8]WG Discussion Points, September 22, 2023.pdf

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