Snap Polls Suggest Vance Edged Out Walz During Tuesday Debate, But a Problem Persists — Voters Just Don’t Like Him Personally

While voters mostly view Tuesday’s vice presidential debate as a win for Senator Vance, it is unlikely to swing many voters in his direction given the calcified partisanship of the country. The Republican nominee is also facing a unique challenge that has nagged him since he was first tapped as President Trump’s running mate — people just don’t like him personally. Mr. Vance, the well-spoken Yale Law graduate, was expected to fare well against Mr. Walz at the forum, and he largely delivered. He landed blows on Mr. Walz’s record as the governor for signing a no limits abortion bill into law, while the Minnesotan failed to hit his Republican opponent on critical issues beyond the January 6 riot. The Ohio senator is widely viewed as the winner of Tuesday night’s debate. In a Washington Post focus group of 22 swing state undecided voters, Mr. Vance won by a margin of nearly two-to-one, with 14 saying he was the victor of the debate, compared to eight voters who said the same of Mr. Walz.Legendary Republican pollster, Frank Luntz, also conducted his own focus group of 14 voters and again, Mr. Vance was seen as the winner. Just two voters said the Democratic candidate had done a better job at the debate, compared to 12 who said the same of Mr. Vance .Mr. Vance’s performance, while admirable, hasn’t seemed to move the needle in his favor, according to many of those same snap polls after the debate and undecided voter groups. CNN’s snap poll — conducted by the polling firm SSRS — shows Mr. Walz was viewed much more favorably by voters after the contest than Mr. Vance. And while the Ohio senator did make some gains on his favorable rating, he is still underwater.After the debate, just 41 percent of viewers said they now have a favorable opinion of Mr. Vance, compared to 44 percent who held an unfavorable view. It is an improvement over the last CNN poll that had Mr. Vance with only a 30 percent favorable rating and a 52 percent unfavorable rating. While such an improvement might seem impressive, Mr. Walz dominated the post-debate poll question on favorability. Following the debate, CNN found that Mr. Walz’s net favorable rating rose to plus 37 from plus 14. Before the debate, 46 percent held a favorable view of the governor and 32 percent saw him unfavorable. Immediately after, 59 percent said they have a positive opinion of him, compared to just 22 percent who have an unfavorable view. While both Republicans and Democrats understandably flocked to their own candidates in the post-debate poll questions of who won, there were signs of hope for Mr. Walz in one poll of independent voters. On Wednesday, Politico released the results of their post-debate survey that showed Mr. Walz walking away from the contest with a slight lead on the question of who is more prepared to serve as vice president. Among unaffiliated voters, 44 percent said the Minnesota governor would make a better VP, while just 36 percent said the same of Mr. Vance. On the question of who won, 39 percent said Mr. Walz, 25 percent said Mr. Vance, and 41 percent said they did not watch the debate. While the Republican candidate was able to reassure some voters that he would be capable of serving as president, his unfavorable ratings going into the debate and even coming out of it may be too hard to overcome before election day. A number of surveys released ahead of the Vance–Walz debate showed that Mr. Walz was the man that voters — to use an old cliché — wanted to have a beer with. A CBS News poll released Monday found that Mr. Walz was viewed as more trustworthy, authentic, and liked than Mr. Vance was. The long-running Gallup survey of vice presidential nominees’ popularity — which first started during the 2000 election — reaffirmed what has been true since Mr. Vance was tapped as the Republican nominee this summer: he is the most unpopular running mate of either party in decades.

Snap Polls Suggest Vance Edged Out Walz During Tuesday Debate, But a Problem Persists — Voters Just Don’t Like Him Personally

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