That, or “they’re all from Indiana,” the state where Pence served as governor. What to make of that 6 to 7 percent he gets in the primary polls? “I imagine there’s a cohort of GOP voters who are not particularly engaged who don’t want Trump again, and Pence is the only other name they really know,” she speculated. Longwell told me this is how Pence is talked about in every focus group she holds. I don’t know if anyone would vote for him.” So I don’t think he has a constituency anywhere. “And then he put a stain on himself with any Trump Republican on January 6. “I think he put a stain on himself for any normal Republican when he joined the Trump administration,” said another participant, Justin. I don’t think Trump has a chance, and I don’t think anybody in that inner circle has a chance either.” “The only thing I liked about him was that he actually did stand up to Donald Trump,” a woman named Barbara said. Meanwhile, less MAGA-inclined Republicans thought Pence was too Trumpy. He just doesn’t have that spine.”Ī third participant, Nicholas, chimed in: “He just chose to go along with all the other RINOs and Democrats, not to upset the applecart.” “He didn’t have the leadership qualities to do what everyone wanted him to do on January 6. “That’s exactly it,” a woman named Christine said, nodding eagerly. “He would be a horrible president … I just don’t think he has the leadership qualities to be president.” (I agreed to identify the participants only by their first name.) “I’m so mad at Pence that I would never vote for him,” said one man named Matt. During one session, three people-all of whom had reported “very favorable” views of Trump-took turns trashing Pence for what they saw as his weakness. Capitol on January 6.Īlthough the sentiment expressed in the focus groups wasn’t quite so violent, the anger was still present. This break with Trump famously prompted chants of “Hang Mike Pence!” to echo through the U.S. Hard-core Trump fans said they’d been alienated by Pence’s refusal to block the certification of the 2020 electoral votes, as the president was demanding. Some of the reasons for Pence’s lack of support were intuitive. Of the 34 Republicans who participated, I heard only four people say they’d consider Pence for president-and two of them immediately started talking themselves out of it after indicating interest. It went on and on like that across four different focus groups. “He’s only gonna get the vote from his family, and I’m not even sure if they like him.” “He has alienated every Republican and Democrat … It’s over. If there was someone halfway better, I wouldn’t vote for him.” “I don’t care for him … He’s just middle-of-the-road to me. Instead, these were some of the quotes I jotted down. My goal was to see if I could find at least one Pence supporter.įrom the January/February 2018 issue: God’s plan for Mike Pence I’ve always been skeptical of his chances, but now that he finally seems ready to run, I wanted to understand the appeal of his prospective candidacy. By some accounts, he’s wanted to be president since his college-fraternity days. I’ve been covering Pence’s strange Trump-era arc since 2017, when I first profiled him for The Atlantic. One group consisted entirely of two-time Trump voters who didn’t want him to run again another was made up of conservative evangelicals, who might presumably appreciate Pence’s roots in the religious right. In some cases, Longwell filtered for voters who should be in Pence’s target demographic. The participants were all over the country-suburban Atlanta, rural Illinois, San Diego-and they varied in their current opinions of Trump. ![]() Organized by the political consultant Sarah Longwell, the groups consisted of Republican voters who’d supported Donald Trump in both 20. In recent weeks, I was invited to sit in on a series of focus groups conducted over Zoom. He seems to think he has at least an outside shot at winning the Republican nomination.Īnd yet, ask a Republican voter about the former vice president, and you’re likely to hear some of the most withering commentary you’ve ever encountered about a politician. ![]() ![]() In early Republican-primary polls, he hovers between 6 and 7 percent-not top-tier numbers, but respectable enough. He’s written his book he’s assembling his team he’s mastered the art of the coy nondenial when somebody asks (in between trips to Iowa) if he’s running. Mike Pence is making little secret of his presidential ambitions.
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