More than a dozen former Ronald Reagan staff members have joined dozens of other Republican figures endorsing the Democratic nominee and vice-president, Kamala Harris, saying their support was “less about supporting the Democratic party and more about our resounding support for democracy”.
I don’t think they do. Think about yourself - could any endorsement convince you to vote for Trump? Because that’s the situation Republicans are in. They’re as committed to their nominde as you are to yours.
I’m telling you, with first hand experience, that they do.
And again, no, an endorsement alone isn’t ever going to convince me. There are multiple things that can convince people.
Some people are going to stick with what they’ve always stuck with.
Some people are going to focus on personality, “Have a beer with” .
Some are going to look at policy.
And of course no one is simple, so it’s usually a combination of the above.
But those Republicans who have always voted Republican, who finally see Trump for what he is, are looking for an alternative. They’re not risk takers. They aren’t just going to vote Harris if they’ve decided they can’t vote Trump. If however they see others from their crowd do it, they are likely to follow along.
Your anecdotal experience isn’t a strong data point. Just saying.
I think this helps. We’re talking opinion here. But to add data,
That’s who I’m talking about. Those disillusioned with Trump. “I can’t vote Trump. I won’t vote for Biden or Harris.” But with enough time and endorsements, maybe they will.
But this can also convince weak Harris supporters to not vote for her. I’m not convinced this helps more than it hurts.
It is funny to think about people sitting at home being convinced to show up to vote because of a bunch if hasbeen mummies.
I mean endorsements are weird.
Who was sitting at home not voting and saw the Taylor Swift endorsement and thought, yeah, now I’m voting for Harris.
Or who was not voting and saw the Swift endorsement and thought, yeah, I should vote.
But I also don’t see someone leaning voting for Harris, seeing someone else vote for Harris and then decide, no, now I won’t. Someone only swayed by endorsements are probably low information voters. They’re not going to see someone voting for Harris as a negative thing for Harris.
I think you’re underestimating how much some people hate Reagan.
I think you’re overestimating how informed people are.
You’re presupposing that Republicans are more informed than other Harris voters.
If this won’t hurt Harris because people who hate Reagan are too uninformed to care, then it won’t help either because Republicans are going to be equally uninformed. Almost no one will hear about this other than politics nerds who have already made up their minds.