We asked this week about how much interest our readers had in the National Conventions. Clearly, these are Conventions like no other. For good reason, they were for the most part virtual events. The questions were asked on Sunday, right between the Democratic Convention’s conclusion and the start of the Republican Convention.
With Conventions designed – usually – to reach a broader audience and build supporters beyond a candidate’s base, we were interested in how attentive Republicans, Democrats and Independents would be to even watch the National Conventions.
We had a strong response and a great deal of data. Here are the highlights:
When it comes to watching the Conventions, Democrats showed the strongest interest, with 83% indicating they would watch some or all of the Democratic Convention. This compares to Republicans who indicated that 66% would watch their Republican Convention. Most importantly, only 21% of Republicans said they would watch most of it versus nearly 60% of Democrats who said they would watch most of their Convention.
As for Independents, 59% indicated they would watch some or most of the Democratic Convention while 42% said they would watch some or most of the Republican Convention.
Assuming that it harder to persuade voters that do not tune in to your message, the Democratic Convention seems to have an advantage in reaching voters.
Then, when it comes to the Conventions of the future, there is a pretty consistent view among all who responded. Overall, about 1 out of 3 readers suggested that the Conventions going forward should be virtual with another 1 out of 3 suggesting some combination of virtual and live. But, even here there were party differences with 45% of Democrats calling for virtual conventions versus 8% of Republicans. And, while 29% of Republicans favored large conventions in the future there was not a single Democrat who suggested that would be desirable.
So, election year 2020 continues with the intensity growing right up to November 3rd.
Remember, your views only count on November 3rd if you are registered to vote and cast a ballot. Need to register to vote in 2020? CLICK HERE
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