When Republican Senator Lindsey Graham was asked in January about the prospect of backing either Donald Trump or Ted Cruz for president, he infamously joked that the choice felt like deciding between “being shot or poisoned.”
As the GOP continues to stumble into chaos and disarray heading into today’s Wisconsin primary, that hypothetical scenario is now turning into a nightmarish reality for House Republicans.
House Republicans are looking at the real prospects of running alongside Trump or Cruz, who are highly unpopular amongst women, millennials, independents and other key voting blocs and would produce a down-ballot nightmare for Congressman Bruce Poliquin.
Donald Trump:
National Support among Republicans: According to a just-released NBC News poll, only 45% of Republican or Republican-leaning voters support Trump.
Women: A Gallup poll last week showed that Trump’s popularity is plunging to all-time lows, with 7 out of 10 women holding unfavorable views of him.
Republican Women: According to a Pew poll, only 38% of Republican women support Trump.
Men: In the same Gallup poll, nearly 6 out of 10 men hold unfavorable views toward Trump.
Hispanics: Nearly 7 out of 10 of persuadable Hispanic voters (67%) have an unfavorable view of Donald Trump, according to Univision/Media Predict
Millennials: Among millennials (people age 18-34), Trump’s unfavorable rating is nearly 78%, according to a recent CNN poll.
Independents: Among independents, Trump has a 68% unfavorability rating, according to a recent CNN poll.
Ultra-conservative Cruz is not far behind, and in some categories, has even worse unfavorability ratings.
Ted Cruz:
Republicans: According to a just-released national NBC News poll, only 28% of Republican or Republican-leaning voters support Ted Cruz. Worse than Trump!
Women: A Gallup poll found that Ted Cruz has a 16-point net negative rating among women. Bad!
Republican Women: According to a Pew poll, only 34% of Republican women support Cruz. Worse than Trump!
Men: According to a Gallup poll, Ted Cruz has a 15-point net negative rating amongst men. Bad!
Hispanics: According to an Economist/YouGov poll, 50% of Hispanic voters have an unfavorable view of Cruz. Hard to be worse than Trump on this one!
Millennials: According to Economist/YouGov poll, 57% of people under 30 years old have an unfavorable view of Cruz. Bad!
Independents: According to Economist/YouGov poll, 59% of independents have unfavorable views of Cruz. Bad!
That is in addition to NRCC internal polling conducted earlier this year showing that while Donald Trump would cause great harm to House Republicans, Cruz and his ultra-conservative views are even worse for down-ballot Republicans’ reelection prospects.
“Republican Senator Lindsey Graham’s assessment still rings true today: As Donald Trump and Ted Cruz’s popularity continue to nose-dive, Congressman Bruce Poliquin is now faced with the nightmarish scenario of backing one of them for president and the down-ballot catastrophe that either nominee could cause,” said Bryan Lesswing at the DCCC.