Skip to main content

You are here

Advertisement

Reader Poll: Most (Already) Committed to a Candidate, But…

With the lowa caucuses now part of history, the New Hampshire primaries just around the corner and Super Tuesday not too far away, most NAPA-Net readers already seem to have a presidential candidate in mind.

Not everyone, mind you. Roughly one-third (35%) said they hadn’t yet decided who they would vote for in November. And “only” 42% said they had already committed, as had the remaining 23%, though with the caveat that that decision was dependent on that candidate still being in the race come November.

As for that level of commitment:

23% — very firmly committed
15% — firmly committed
23% — committed, but could (still) be persuaded
27% — “I’ve got a favorite, but I’m not committed”
12% — “It’s still anybody’s race”

That said, the past week has seen two of the GOP candidates drop out, as well as one on the Democratic side. So, we also asked readers how they would respond if they would vote for their party’s candidate, regardless of who it turned out to be.

A plurality — but only just so (44%) — said they’d back their party’s choice. Nearly as many (41%) said their vote was cast based on the candidate, not their party. Approximately 14% said they didn’t have a party — and the rest? Well, they had specific candidates they wouldn’t vote for in any event.

Debate ‘Bait’?

There have, of course, been a number of candidate debates already; seven for the GOP and three between the Democratic candidates. So, how many have NAPA-Net readers watched? Among this week’s respondents, a quarter (26%) had seen none of the GOP debates, 7% had seen one, a quarter had seen two, 11% had seen three, and 13% had seen four. Fewer than 5% had seen five, and none had seen any more than that. On the other hand, 15% said that they had seen more than one, but had lost count.

It was a similar story on the Democratic side, though here 44% of respondents said they hadn’t seen any, 30% had seen one, and 22% had seen two of the three. The rest — 4% — had actually seen all three.

There were a lot of interesting comments this week, including this sampling:

“Politicians and diapers should be changed regularly, for the same reason.”
“It is a real circus and unfortunately the moderate candidates don't seem to have a chance.”
“Feel like the whole political world is out of control; what ever happened to teamwork? We spend too much time tearing each other apart.”
“Other than this primary may be the worst I’ve seen in my life time (and I'm not young). I can't believe the fear- and hate-mongering. Truly scary for what most Americans believe in and stand for.”
“Still way too much money being spent on these campaigns when the money could be put to better use (i.e., our schools, infrastructure, veterans).”
“The entire process makes me crazy! Too much personal combat; too little real content. It’s like watching a combination of a beauty pageant and WWF… not a great way to select our leader.”
“At this point I would like to vote for ‘Other — a player to be named later’ — I am at a loss to explain the raving lunatics seeking my support from both of the major parties.”

And, while we deliberately steered clear of asking readers to name their candidates, I can’t help but acknowledge the (appreciated, but misguided) comments of the reader noted, “We need to begin a write-in campaign for Nevin Adams. All of the candidates who have entered the race are inferior.”

Thanks to everyone who participated in our weekly reader poll!

Got a question you’d like to pose to our readers? Looking for insights? Post it in the comments section below, or email me at [email protected].

Advertisement