A new 2018 midterm elections survey is delivering a one-two punch to Republicans with a strong suggestion that Democrats should take a page out of the GOP’s 2010 Obama-era playbook to win back control of the House.
The first punch delivered by the latest Public Policy Polling survey is that more voters believe that 2017 tax cuts on which the GOP is building its 2018 election strategy will do them more harm than good.
And overall, voter don’t seem jazzed by the cuts. Said PPP:
“Another thing causing Republicans trouble is that the tax bill isn’t doing them any favors. Only 31 percent of voters say they support it to 40 percent who are opposed. Continuing with that 31 percent figure, only 31 percent of voters think the tax plan is actually going to help their family’s finances with 33 percent saying they think it will actually hurt, and 29 percent saying they think it will not have any impact. 57 percent think the tax plan will mostly help the rich to 29 percent who think the middle class will be the biggest beneficiaries.”
The survey also found that GOP leaders are not popular. No surprise there, but it found troubling evidence that voters who support President Trump are also down on Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Speaker Paul Ryan.
PPP:
“One piece of the Democratic advantage is that Republican congressional leaders are extremely unpopular. Only 23 percent approve of the job Paul Ryan is doing to 58 percent who disapprove. He is only narrowly popular with Trump voters (44/39) and almost universally disliked by Clinton voters (6/76). Mitch McConnell is even worse off, with only 12 percent of voters approving of him to 62 percent who disapprove. He has similar numbers to Ryan with Clinton voters (7/69) but in contrast to Ryan is strongly disliked even by Trump voters (21/54).”
The analysis from the Democratic polling outfit then suggested a strategy of copying the GOP’s 2010 effort during which they used the unpopularity of then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi to win back control of the House.
“In 2010 Republicans used Nancy Pelosi’s unpopularity to great effect. Democrats may be able to do the same thing with Ryan and McConnell this time around,” said PPP.
