Dem
51
GOP
49
Let's continue the theme of Republicans and colleges a bit. Early this year, the backbone of Ron DeSantis' support was college-educated Republicans who hated Donald Trump. Three new Republican primary polls show that DeSantis' support among college-educated white GOP voters has been cut in half compared to the start of the year. A Morning Consult poll had him going from 41% to 23%. An Ipsos poll had him go from 39% to 20%. A Quinnipiac University poll had him at 51% in February and 29% now. This is a much larger drop-off than with other demographic groups. With three reputable pollsters saying the same thing, it probably is not a one-time statistical fluke.
None of the pollsters asked: "How come?" However, political operatives said that it was his hard-edged anti-woke-at-all-costs approach that was turning people off. Initially, college-educated Republicans were looking for an alternative to Trump and thought DeSantis might be their man. Then they discovered what he was like and were horrified. He might be able to recapture them, but that would require inventing a kinder, gentler, DeSantis v2.0, and that seems unlikely.
This development presents DeSantis with a real problem. Voters with no college are firmly in Trump's camp. If DeSantis can't win either college-educated voters or voters without a college education, who's left? Maybe college drop-outs? (V)