Republicans seem more poised than Democrats or independents to tune into the presidential debate, according to a new survey.
Seventy-five percent of Republicans say they are likely to watch the debate, compared to 61% of Democrats and 58% of independents, according to a Syracuse University-Ipsos poll. President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump are set for a rematch tonight at 9 p.m. ET on CNN.
A smaller number of respondents said they were “very likely” to watch the debate, with 45% of Republicans saying so and 30% of Democrats and 28% of independents responding the same.
Ipsos pollster and Senior Vice President Chris Jackson told Axios that the part of the country that relies on conservative media and who “really believe this narrative that Biden’s this senile old man” may be exposed to a different visual on the debate stage.
“There are big swaths of Americans who are just not spending a lot of time with mainstream news coverage — but social media, friends, nothing. That speaks to the challenge: How do you reach people who are sort of unreachable?” Jackson said.
Still, the debate is unlikely to change many people’s minds about the two candidates as they are both well known and the debate is happening much earlier than usual.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
“Debates tend to be the most viewed moments of a single campaign. We don’t know that’ll be the case this time because it’s coming so early,” Thomas Hollihan, a professor at the University of Southern California Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, told the Washington Examiner. “People who are undecided or late decided voters don’t pay a lot of attention to politics until the month before they actually have to go cast a ballot.”
“We’re in a situation where the core supporters for each candidate are really baked in. They’re not going to change their opinions. Both these candidates have some of the strongest negatives we’ve ever seen, and it’s much more difficult to change a negative perception than a soft positive perception,” he said.