Posted on 09/03/2018 2:24:18 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
Welcome to Pollapalooza, our weekly polling roundup.
Poll of the week
A new Texas Senate poll came out this week showing Democratic Rep. Beto O’Rourke within 1 point of Republican Sen. Ted Cruz. It gave new life to a familiar question: Could Texas finally flip blue? Normally, this would be the point where we lecture everyone about the dangers of putting too much stock in one poll. But this poll wasn’t even much of an outlier — it came on the heels of a few others that also show O’Rourke within a few points of Cruz. That’s an awfully close race for a state that President Trump won by 9 points in 2016. Is it time to start betting on a Democrat in Texas?
We still say you should hold onto your chips.
OK, first the new survey: Emerson College’s poll of registered voters, conducted online and through robo-calls, reported 38 percent support for Cruz and 37 percent for O’Rourke, well within the poll’s 4-point margin of error. About a fifth of respondents remained undecided.
Emerson was the sixth consecutive pollster in our database to find the Texas Senate race within single digits....
(Excerpt) Read more at fivethirtyeight.com ...
Perhaps Cruz is waiting until October to begin his media blitz?
-PJ
Maybe he’s doing the data mining/social media thing that worked well for him in 2016 and helped Trump beat Hillary although outspent 5 to 1 and with fewer workers on the ground? Cambridge Analytica worked for Cruz before they switched to working for Trump. Are you familiar with that story? TV and radio ads are a 20th Century tactic. If Cruz was spending $100 million on social media you might never hear about it.
BS. Cruz refused to endorse Trump at the convention despite being given a prime time speaking slot on national television. He was a sore loser and showed no class. Loyalty begets loyalty.
Trump is going to hold a big rally for Cruz. He is the one with class.
Cruz also played games during the primaries colluding with other candidates against Trump.
Yep.
I will never vote for an ineligible candidate, even if he is wearing an R jersey.
Oops, I meant $500,000!
It's clear that O'Rourke is still doing TV and radio ads (at least here in Houston), so he doesn't care if it's a 20th century tactic. He needs name recognition and he's getting it without Cruz countering. This 20th century tactic is called defining your opponent before he can define himself, and Cruz isn't doing it.
Maybe Cruz thinks he can overcome O'Rourke's media lead once he starts his own campaign. Cruz's advantage so far is that O'Rourke hasn't been attacking him, O'Rourke's been busy introducing himself to Texans.
Once they engage directly, things will be different. I just hope Cruz knows what he's doing by letting O'Rourke have the field all to himself over the summer.
-PJ
I don’t really do social media either, but that’s how Cruz won Iowa and Trump won the nomination and general election. As has been said here before, no El Paso candidate has won statewide office in the collective memory of Texans here on Free Republic.
Most Texas Republicans either don’t respond to the stupid polls or they will just say they’re undecided.
Thumbs up!
The better question might be, how much trouble is Texas in as far as possibly turning Blue.....
I predicted Fredo would be in trouble the night he gave his BS speech at the convention and got booed off the stage. Now the Godfather is going to have to bail him out with a rally.
Same area. I like Cruz but a lot of people do not care from him. The young people I talk to think he is too preachy and the Trump people can’t stand him.
Ok, maybe don’t grow up then.
I think people will hold their nose and vote for him, but in a poll they are going to say what they feel about him.
Johnson wouldn't have got to the White House on his own.
Nixon didn't get there the first time and didn't last when he did.
Jimmy Carter only got there once - before people knew who he really was.
I hope Ted Cruz gets reelected, but he will never be president.
Personal unlikeability may not be the main reason, but it doesn't help him any.
You and I both know that Nixon won the 1960 election.
I’m still angry at Ted Cruz for his horrible behavior toward Donald Trump during the campaign and convention. But if I lived in Texas, and he was my only viable GOP choice, I would hold my nose and vote for him. Anything to help Donald Trump enact his agenda.
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