For now, voters are most likely basing their views about Pence's selection or his qualifications on partisanship, their feelings about Trump or a general awareness of Pence's government credentials. Still, Pence is largely unfamiliar to most voters, with 62% having no opinion of him, and therefore these attitudes can be viewed as only preliminary. Voters have reacted with modest approval - not convinced he is an excellent or even good choice, but more likely to believe he is qualified than not qualified, and slightly more likely to say he inspires them to vote for the GOP ticket. In selecting Pence as his running mate, Trump has neither scored a home run nor struck out. However, with 22% of voters expressing no opinion on Pence's qualifications, there is room for change on this front as the campaign continues.īased on what you know about Mike Pence, do you think he is qualified to serve as president if it becomes necessary, or not? These views may reflect some awareness that Pence is a governor and has at least earned Trump's confidence. Palin, another relatively unknown governor nationally, was rated worse.
While similar to 2012 voter perceptions of Ryan, whom 50% thought was qualified, the 46% saying Pence is qualified is on the low end of the percentages saying this about other vice presidential choices since 1992. In Trump's case, that includes a perceived lack of experience needed to be president.īy 46% to 33%, more voters say Pence - a lawyer, current governor of Indiana and former six-term congressman from the state - is qualified to serve as president should it become necessary.
Pence has yet to accomplish another important job - helping to patch one of the presumptive GOP nominee's image weaknesses. Less Than Half Say Pence Qualified to Be President if Necessary § Time poll ^ USA Today poll NOTE: all vice presidential nominees shown are non-incumbents Dan Quayle in 1988 is the only candidate who brought no net positive effect to the ticket.ĭoes having Mike Pence as his running mate make you more likely to vote for Donald Trump in November, less likely or will it not have much effect on your vote? It is on par with Ryan's influence on the ticket in 2012 as well as Cheney's in 2000. This is also typical however, this minimal positive tilt is one of the weaker ones of the past eight elections. Roughly three in four registered voters claim that having Pence on the ticket will not influence their likelihood of voting for Trump for president, and that is typical - Gallup finds the majority saying this about the vice presidential selections in every election.Īt the same time, by 14% to 10%, slightly more voters say Pence makes them more likely to support Trump in November rather than less likely. Only Palin, newly named as John McCain's running mate in 2008, was more unfamiliar to voters than Pence is today, while slight majorities were unacquainted with Ryan, Biden and Lieberman at the time they were selected.ĭo you have a favorable or unfavorable opinion of Mike Pence, or have you never heard of him? Thus, while nearly as many voters currently view Pence unfavorably (18%) as favorably (21%), there is a great deal of opportunity for that to change as he becomes a household name. More than six in 10 either have no opinion (18%) or have never heard of him (44%). Just 39% of registered voters have an opinion of him. More broadly, Pence is not a well-known figure nationally. Cheney sparked less enthusiasm in 2000, earning a mere 18% excellent rating from Republicans. Pence's "excellent" rating falls well short of the 39% of Republicans rating Ryan this highly in 2012, as well as 34% for Palin in 2008. Just 27% of Republican voters call him an excellent choice for vice president. But one of the jobs of a running mate is to help the nominee fire up his or her political base, and it appears Pence has yet to achieve that. Overall, two-thirds of Republicans who are registered to vote consider Pence an excellent or pretty good choice for vice president only 5% call him poor. The less-positive reaction to vice presidential candidates in recent years could reflect the increasingly polarized political environment in the U.S.īarely One in Four Republican Voters Appear Enthused About Pence Solid majorities rated three picks - John Edwards in 2004, Joe Lieberman in 2000 and Dick Cheney in 2000 - as excellent or pretty good. Two other vice presidential picks, Sarah Palin and Joe Biden - both tapped in 2008 - were rated slightly more positively than negatively. Since 2000, when Gallup began measuring voters' immediate reaction to vice presidential choices, only Ryan and Pence have elicited more negative than positive reactions upon being named as running mates.