Thursday, June 16, 2022

RIOTING: GOOD CAREER MOVE

This story from Michigan doesn't surprise me:
Republican gubernatorial candidate Ryan Kelley’s recent arrest by the FBI for his suspected involvement in the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol appears to have boosted his name recognition and favorability among GOP voters in Michigan, new polling conducted in the days following his arrest indicates.

Kelley was arrested June 9. In a June 10-13 poll conducted for the Detroit Free Press and our outstate polling partners by EPIC-MRA of Lansing, 17% named Kelley as their preferred candidate for the August primary to determine which Republican candidate challenges Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in November.
That's not a huge level of support, but it puts him in the lead (45% of respondents are still undecided). He's even ahead of this guy, who would seem to have an unbeatable message going into a Republic primary:


Kelley also had the highest total favorability and name recognition among Republican gubernatorial contenders; 39% of respondents said they viewed the Ottawa County real estate agent favorably.
If getting arrested for participating in the Trump riot is good for a Republican campaign, then the January 6 hearings ought to give a poll boost to Trump himself, at least among GOP voters. On the other hand, if Fox News and other right-wing media outlets continue to downplay the hearings, maybe Trump won't see any benefit at all. (Perhaps that's what the Murdochs are thinking: Don't give publicity to Trump and maybe he'll seem diminished relative to Ron DeSantis.) We watch the hearings and see guilt. Fox fans would see a hero under attack. Ron DeSantis is lucky that right-wing news outlets aren't giving Trump that gift.

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