Posted on 04/09/2016 7:37:35 AM PDT by mandaladon
(Reuters) - A third of Republican voters who support Donald Trump could turn their backs on their party in November's presidential election if he is denied the nomination in a contested convention, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll.
The results are bad news for Trump's rivals as well as party elites opposed to the real estate billionaire, suggesting that an alternative Republican nominee for the Nov. 8 presidential race would have a tougher road against the Democrats.
"If it’s a close election, this is devastating news" for the Republicans, said Donald Green, an expert on election turnout at Columbia University.
The Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted March 30 to April 8 asked Trump’s Republican supporters two questions: if Trump wins the most delegates in the primaries but loses the nomination, what would they do on Election Day, and how would it impact their relationship with the Republican Party?
Sixty-six percent said they would vote for the candidate who eventually wins the nomination, while the remaining third were split between a number of alternatives such as not voting, supporting a third-party candidate, and switching parties and voting for the Democratic nominee.
Meanwhile, 58 percent said they would remain with the Republican Party. Another 16 percent said they would leave it, and 26 percent said they did not know what they would do with their registration. The online poll of 468 Republican Trump supporters has a credibility interval of 5.3 percentage points.
(Excerpt) Read more at yahoo.com ...
How long will a country of 325 million be made to heel by nine robed tyrants?
Ludicrous statement.
This, at least, makes sense.
Alleged polls that claim that the guy who can’t even win a primary is the only one who can win the general are utterly nonsensical. “Polls” like that have been used for years to sway voters against their chosen candidate to instead vote for the establishment candidate. Of course, the establishment candidate then goes on to lose. Anyone remember President Romney? McCain? Dole? Those were great presidencies, weren’t they?
In addition, in the cases where the “poll” does not sway the voters to vote the way the establishment wants, the establishment pulls its support from the voters’ choice in order to guarantee that the left retains power. I think this happened fairly recently in Nevada, when a good, principled candidate had a real chance of dislodging Reid.
If the GOP would respect the voters’ wishes, it would be in a far better place now. And the country wouldn’t be wallowing in permanent debt.
That’s the billion dollar question. And Hillary has the same problem in reverse.
With Trump, the GOP down ticket survives, even if he would not prevail. I think Trump would beat her or Bernie. His win would need to overwhelm or they steal it by fraud.
Without Trump, the down ticket losses will hand Hellary the Presidency and possibly both the Senate and the House. That might be the only reason they have left for cooperation and support.
The Republican party has been horribly dishonest and unethical with Trump. They never should have accepted Trump’s entry if their ultimate plan was to sabotage his race to the WH. They likely saw $$$ and thought they could fleece his supporters. They planned on grafting money off his candidacy and were shocked to get zilch. And now hundreds of millions of dollars pissed away and more headaches to come. I blame the aristocracy of Bush.
And let's add to that because I think the "never Trumps" and the "never Cruz's" will be substantially smaller come election time than they might be now.
But what about the cross overs? It doesn't seem to me that a Republican candidate could be elected in the general without them given demographics.
So, beside considering which candidate is most disliked by the base, maybe we should also be thinking about which candidate has the greatest ability to attract crossover.
"I’m livid that Trump stays in. I believe those are Cruz votes."
(see how silly that sounds?)
If Trump goes into the Convention with less than 1,237 delegates, then he hasn't won the nomination.
GOPe has two choices: Trump or Hillary. And they want Hillary.
Cruz can’t will.
I heard Hillary say the other day that more people have voted for her than have voted for Trump, but I can’t seem to find the actual numbers anywhere. They are saying that around one million more voters have turned out to vote R than D. It’s difficult to know how independents are leaning, since rules vary by state. However you look at it, Hillary will win if anyone that considers themselves to be a republican or even a moderate conservative decides to sit this one out.
When the Cruz-Hillary contest is concluded, I will be standing in the Mall cheering on the inauguration of President Cruz.
“Ted stands NO chance in Florida, Ohio or NY, Ted Loses.”
I agree completely. Ted loses to Clinton and to Sanders. Trump loses to Clinton and Sanders too. Time for someone new. Some one who can beat Clinton and Sanders.
It is unimportant how much I agree/disagree with a potential nominee if that nominee can’t win the general election. You see, I agree with the statement that “I want to nominate someone who reflects my beliefs”. I believe defeating Clinton/Sanders is far more important than anything else.
I can’t believe some people actually believe half of the drivel posted on this forum lately. Too much emotion and complete lack of rational thought.
So, FReeper heights, if Trump is not the nominee, you will vote for all Democrats. And you’re stating that openly here. Wow.
He may win Wyoming.
Amen, brother.
That’ll show ‘em, by golly!!
What I am afraid of with Cruz is that if Cruz wins nomination there will be a lawsuit and Supreme Court ruling stating he is not eligible. Cruz will probably pick Kasich as VP, thus allowing Kasich to be President until the ruling comes down on Cruz.
GOPE folks have stated in media, loud and clear that they would rather vote for Hillary then Cruz or Trump.
I am still undecided what I am going to do- waiting to see what happens at National Convention.
I just don’t understand why the GOP selected Cleveland for Convention- there are going to be riots, fires, thousands of protesters, damages to homes, cars, etc.
It’s as crazy as if they would have picked Philadelphia or Baltimore.
Such a move would doom the GOP—It will go the way of the Whigs and maybe that isn’t really a bad thing. We have needed a new party for some time. Liberty Party-— Let freedom ring. Symbol: Liberty Bell—animal mascot: the Grizzle bear, politcal philosophy: Hard shell conservatism and Christian faith.
Exactly, I have always seen Republicans prosecuted for anything unethical, while a Democrat goes unscathed.
If they do us dirty, then I have no choice to vote all of them out- they screwed us over the last two elections. We have them back the House and Senate only to have them tell us we have to eat their crap on a spoon or else!
Here's why:
They're thinking: If we endorse Trump, it will forever tarnish the GOP and alienate the Republican Party from most American voters; maybe it would be better to let Hillary win the Presidency and then try to regroup for the next election.
However: If Hillary wins, the Republican Party will lose all its power forever. The Democrats will pack the courts and polls and destroy the GOP. The GOPe's best bet is to persuade Trump to accept an establishment Vice President and go for broke. They can maintain their internal Party structure, and, if they win the Presidency, they can nullify the attempts of the Democrat Party to establish a permanent Democrat majority in the U.S. electorate by, for example, enforcing immigration rules and having conservative judges appointed.
If, on the other hand, Trump establishes a third party, the Republican Party and its Establishment will never recover their power.
They are also thinking: Let's go with Cruz. He's the lesser of two evils; we might be able to control him; and we might be able to snatch the nomination from him at the last minute.
However: Cruz will not be able to establish a third party; Trump might.
The best hope for America would be a Trump/Cruz ticket. This will hard to pull together but is not impossible, and the battle with the Democrats will be a hard one to fight, but if we win, we will win BIG, and if we lose, it will mean that we lost America years ago.
The only other good possibility is a Cruz nomination for President, but this would require some serious effort to prevent Trump from sabotaging it by establishing a third party. It might be possible, considering Trump's love for America and awareness of what another Democrat Presidency would do to America, but there would have to be a very wise appeal to him. This also would be difficult but not impossible.
The Republican Establishment had better do some extremely serious thinking.
They might not have the brain power required. Both Cruz and Trump do have the brain power, and the Republican Establishment had better listen to them very, very carefully and make the wisest deal they can.
The fate of America--and the world--is at stake.
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