Jon McHenry, August 14

Jon McHenry’s comments to The Boston Globe regarding the economy as an issue in the Republican primary and general election:

Letting the White House dominate the conversation isn’t good for Republicans with polls consistently showing that voters rank the economy as the most important issue, said Jon McHenry, a GOP pollster not affiliated with any of the campaigns.

“It makes a lot of sense to be out there … talking about what you’re going to do to fix the economy,” McHenry said of the candidates in the GOP primary campaign. “Republicans are better served being involved on the issue and laying the groundwork on it rather than ceding the issue to Joe Biden for the next 12 months or so.”

McHenry said Pence was smart to frame his economic plan, which goes beyond inflation, as still primarily focused on that problem.

“It’s a good shorthand on the economy,” he said. “Just talking about inflation is a pretty good way to make sure people are on the same page with you.”

For now, Biden is doing more talking in detail about the economy than his Republican opponents, making Bidenomics a centerpiece of his reelection campaign.

“I don’t know if it’s the dumbest or gutsiest move I’ve seen politically in the last 20 years,” McHenry said.

To read the full article, please click here.

Whit Ayres, August 7

Whit Ayres spoke with The Guardian about Hunter Biden’s legal troubles:

Whit Ayres, a Republican political consultant and pollster, said: “There are plenty of questions surrounding his business activities and the extent to which he traded on his father’s name and reputation or used his father to get more money or get large contracts. There are plenty of questions and a lot of suspicion – in Republican circles anyway – about how that has been investigated.”

The scrutiny is testing boundaries and whether the family of a politician – even a president – is fair game. Hunter has never served in the White House, which is quick to describe him as a “private citizen”. But he is often seen at his father’s side, including on a recent trip to Ireland and on the White House balcony for 4 July fireworks, a frequent reminder of the president’s family complications.

Ayres added: “I don’t think I would be putting him front and centre as much as the president is doing. I understand his instinct to try to be loyal to a troubled son but politically it is not at all helpful. The less visible Hunter Biden is, the better it is for Joe Biden.”

To read the full article, please click here.

Whit Ayres, July 31

Whit Ayres’ comments to The Guardian regarding the challenges still facing President Joe Biden:

Whit Ayres, a political consultant and pollster, said of the policy areas: “They may be moving in the right direction but they still are major problems from the perspective of Republican voters as well as a number of independents. We are a long way from having the border under control.

“We’re a long way from having inflation back at the rate we became used to for quite a while. And crime remains a very significant problem in lots of American cities. So while each of those may not be quite as bad as they were, they are still very significant problems and likely to remain so through the election.”

To read the full article, please click here.

Whit Ayres, May 1

Whit Ayres’ comments in The Washington Post regarding views of President Biden’s age and Vice President Harris’ capabilities:

Biden is in an unprecedented situation because of his low-40s approval ratings and the clear aversion many have to him running again, Republican pollster Whit Ayres said. Harris’s struggles to generate strong support from voters in either party have added complexity to Biden’s reelection prospects, Ayers added. More than dozen Democratic leaders in key states expressed concerns earlier this year about Harris’s political strength in interviews with The Washington Post.

“That’s an enormous number of people who really don’t want the incumbent president to run again,” Ayres said. “You layer on top of that the fact that the vast majority of the American people do not believe that someone in their mid-80s should try to be shouldering the enormous burdens and pressures of the presidency — and that is especially true when he has a vice president who is widely viewed by members of both parties as not ready for prime time. That is an enormous hill to climb.”

To read the full article, please click here.

Whit Ayres, April 26 (Politico)

Whit Ayres’ comments in Politico about President Biden’s low visibility campaign:

With polls showing a majority of Americans preferring that Biden not seek a second term, the campaign team has its work cut out for them. The task being to gin up support from your own base while keeping yourself off of center stage can, at times, be in conflict. But there is one way to do both: focusing attention on the Republican alternative.

“Republicans nominating Trump again plays right into Biden’s message,” GOP pollster Whit Ayres conceded. “Biden only won in 2020 by a hair in the Electoral College, and he has significant problems now. But his unobtrusiveness is not one of them. In part, that’s what he ran on: not being in your face every day.”

To read the full article, please click here.

Whit Ayres, April 26 (Time)

Whit Ayres’ comments in Time on a potential 2020 rematch in 2024:

The most compelling thing going for him among Democrats may be that he seems likely to again face Trump. And Trump’s already lost that match-up before. “He beat Trump once and Democrats appreciate that accomplishment,” says Republican strategist Whit Ayres. But Ayres notes, “just because he beat him doesn’t mean he can beat him again.”

To read the full article, please click here.

Credit Card Fee Survey

Our firm recently conducted a national survey of voters regarding credit card fees.  Voters understand the importance of paying their credit card bills on time, understand the consequences of not doing so, and are wary of the trade-offs involved were late fees to be lowered.  Simply put, the current system is working well for consumers, and does not need any changes.

Key findings from the survey of 1,071 registered voters are:

1.   Consumers understand why it is important to pay their credit card bills on time, and are overwhelmingly likely to do so.  Eighty-five percent of voters have at least one credit card that they use for retail purchases.  Among these consumers, 99 percent say that it is important that they pay their credit card bill on time (with 91 percent saying it is “very important”), and  82 percent make all of their payments on time, 13 percent make one late payment per year, and just 5 percent make two or more late payments a year.

Ninety-six percent of these consumers are aware that not paying their credit card bill on time can result in a decrease in their credit score, 74 percent know that their bank charges a fee for late payments (in addition to interest), and 72 percent are aware of extra alerts their card issuer sends to help them avoid making late payments.

2.   By a 21-point margin, voters believe that a decrease in the penalty will result in more people making late payments.  Fifty-three percent of voters believe “people will be more likely to make late payments on their credit cards if the late payment penalty is reduced from $30 to $8, because $8 isn’t enough of a penalty to make people care about on-time payments,” while 32 percent think it will have no real effect on late payments, and 15 percent are unsure.

3.   Majorities of voters are concerned about the potential consequences of a cap on late fees.  Voters were asked about potential outcomes of capping late fees at $8 in the following questions:

“If effectively limiting late fees to $8 causes credit card companies to increase other fees like annual fees, balance transfer fees, cash advance fees, and foreign transaction fees, is that a good tradeoff?”  Voters say this is not a good tradeoff by 57 to 30 percent.

“If effectively limiting late fees to $8 causes credit card companies to eliminate or reduce benefits like cashback, discounts at restaurants, or airline miles, is that a good tradeoff?”  Voters say this is not a good tradeoff by 54 to 35 percent.

Methodology

This survey of 1,071 registered voters was conducted online February 28-March 1, 2023 by i-360 using their voter-matched panel.  Results were rake-weighted for state, gender, race/ethnicity, age, and education level to reflect current voter registration nationwide.

2022 Midterm Review

Whit Ayres, February 20

Whit Ayres’ comments in The New York Times regarding President Biden’s reelection:

Whit Ayres, a veteran Republican pollster, said a rematch between Mr. Biden and Mr. Trump would be the best scenario for the president. “At this point, President Biden just needs to seem like he is still very much with it and able to do the job and at that point his fate is largely out of his hands,” Mr. Ayres said. “He’s got to pray the Republicans blow themselves up again.”

Still, another challenger would pose more of a generational threat. Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida is 44; Nikki Haley, a former U.N. ambassador, is 51; and former Vice President Mike Pence is 63. “If the Republicans nominate a younger, vigorous person, male or female, who seems up to the job, I think he’s in trouble,” Mr. Ayres said of Mr. Biden.

To read the full article, please click here.

Whit Ayres, March 3 (AP)

Whit Ayres’ comments to the Associated Press regarding Joe Biden’s approval rating:

So the president spent the evening essentially asking for a fresh start, born of the most serious conflict with Russia in a generation, and another chance to explain his domestic agenda. “He’s got his back to the wall, and he’s put his party’s back against the wall,” said Whit Ayres, a veteran Republican pollster.

To read the whole article, please click here.