Donald Trump has a quandary as he considers several experienced politicians as his vice presidential running mate.
Two of them – Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich – are widely known and widely popular inside the Republican Party. But they are also widely unpopular to the rest of the country, particularly minorities, according to a new McClatchy-Marist Poll.
And two – Gov. Mike Pence of Indiana and Sen. Jeff Sessions of Alabama – are little known. That suggests they’d have plenty of room to grow in a summer and fall campaign – but also could be vulnerable to Democratic ads seeking to define them on unfavorable terms.
A fifth potential candidate, Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa, also was largely unfamiliar to voters. She signaled after the poll started that she’s no longer interested.
“Christie and Gingrich have popularity within the GOP, but that’s not in and of itself a formula for success in November, in terms of broadening support,” said Lee Miringoff, director of the Marist Institute for Public Opinion in New York, which conducted the nationwide poll.
Trump is conducting a public vice presidential search, giving potential candidates a chance to audition on the campaign trail. He will campaign Tuesday with Pence in Indiana. He campaigned Monday in Virginia with Christie, who endorsed Trump soon after dropping his own bid for the Republican nomination. He campaigned with Gingrich last week in Ohio.
Christie is well known to much of the country. But just 34 percent of voters see him favorably while 50 percent do not like him.
He is popular with Republicans, who have a favorable opinion of him by a rate of 58-29. Conservatives are a little more wary, seeing him favorably by 48-33.
The good news ends there. Independents dislike him by 52-27; Democrats by 66-23. White voters have an unfavorable view of him by 45-40, and nonwhite voters by a lopsided 61-23.
Gingrich also is generally unpopular to a general election audience, with 33 percent having a favorable view of him and 53 percent having an unfavorable opinion.
Republicans do like him, by 62-23. Conservatives, too, by 58-29.
But independents dislike him by 56-29; Democrats by 73-13. White voters have an unfavorable view by 48-39; nonwhite voters by 60-24.
Trump assured the audience in Ohio that Gingrich, who has become an informal Trump campaign adviser, would have a position in a Trump administration.
“I’m not saying anything, and I’m not telling even Newt anything, but I can tell you, in one form or another, Newt Gingrich is going to be involved with our government,” Trump said. “That I can tell you.”
Trump later teased: “I’m not saying it’s Newt, but if it is Newt, nobody’s going to be beating him in those debates,” Trump said.
Pence is a blank slate to 56 percent of voters. Even in the Midwest, where he’s been elected to Congress and has served as governor, 58 percent still have never heard of him.
If he were chosen, his strongest support, at least initially, would come from tea party supporters, who like him by 27-17, and conservatives, who see him favorably by 19-14.
Pence’s relative anonymity gives him room to grow, Miringoff said, in comparison to Christie and Gingrich, who already are well known to most voters.
“With Pence, there’s not much name recognition at all, which is sometimes an advantage in that you can frame yourself in ways you want to,” he said. “Christie and Gingrich are well known and not well liked outside of the party. That’s a lot of baggage for them.”