Stryker drew that conclusion based on a series of focus groups with suburban Virginia voters who voted for Democratic Joe Biden in 2020 and voted for (or strongly consider voting for) ) Newly elected Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin last month.
Stryker said: “What these people don’t like about Trump is that they don’t like the person Donald Trump is; that’s not Donald Trump.
That is a very important observation. Attacks by Democrats trying to link Youngkin to Trump have not worked because Youngkin doesn’t look, sound or act like Trump. Youngkin is a business guy who made a name for himself on the campaign trail for wearing a fleece jacket. Voters simply don’t buy that he and Trump are two peas in a pod.
Stryker told Martin of focus group participants: “The respondents laughed with that approach. “They said, ‘Oh, these silly ads compare Youngkin to Trump – he just doesn’t seem like that guy.”
Stryker’s words – and the memo he wrote – will be a major wake-up call to Democrats, many of whom are arguing that Trump’s continued prominence, coupled with his disapproval His deep favorite not only among Democrats but also among independents, could save House and Senate majority next November.
Stryker said no, and voters have not rejected Trump’s policies in 2020, they have rejected the man who is promoting them.
Without that man on the ballot in 2021 (or 2022), the ability of Democrats to tie Republicans – simply because they are in the same party as Trump – with the former President is very limited.
What Candlestick Democrats tell voters? “We should spend 2022 talking about the things we’ve done to reduce costs for working families and get people back to work,” Stryker recommends.
Point: Donald Trump could be a great unifier for the Democratic Party. But voters simply don’t believe that every Republican candidate is the one waiting for Trump.
