Trump on right track with Vance as VP pick
MILWAUKEE—Dubbed “the Nostradamus of pollsters,” Frank Luntz makes America’s political establishment sit up and listen when he talks elections.
He may work for Republican causes but the focus group czar has provided his prognosticating talents to a wide array of politicians, TV networks and Fortune 500 companies for decades.
So his takeaways from day one of the Republican National Convention—full steam ahead for a Trump ticket bolstered by Ohio Senator J.D. Vance—will likely alarm Democrats desperate to avert the tycoon’s return to the Oval Office.
Luntz told the Agence France-Presse (AFP) that Vance on Trump’s ticket campaign will have an impact on Ohio, although Ohio has been going Republican anyway.
“What [picking] J.D. Vance does is that it offers continuity. It says that when Trump is done, there’s someone to follow in his footsteps. That’s number one,” Luntz said.
“Number two, Ohio is one of the most important states in the US Senate and having Vance on the ticket is great for the Republican nominee there.”
Thirdly, Vance “[understands voters] who traditionally were Democrats and have now found a home with Donald Trump.”
AFP turned to the focus groups conducted by Luntz and asked what they’re looking for in a vice president.
“Someone who can step into the job on day one, someone who will not differ that much from the president, because they’re still voting for the president.”
He noted that focus group participants were looking for a vice presidential candidate “who takes their job seriously.”
According to him, “that’s the problem with the current Vice President (Kamala Harris): too many people do not think she takes her job seriously.”
In the driver’s seat
If the election were held today, what would the result be?
Luntz said that “If the election were held today, Donald Trump is the next president. But the election isn’t being held today.”
“We have a convention, Democrats have a convention. Maybe—maybe!—there will be one more debate. But Donald Trump is in the driver’s seat, not just because of polling, but because of intensity.”
“A Trump supporter today will be a Trump voter in November,” he pointed out. “Joe Biden can’t make the same claim. They don’t have the same kind of intensity on the Democratic side that the Republicans do.”
