SHOCK POLL: 80 Percent of Republicans Say ‘Important’ To Do Presidential Debates Following RNC Dropout

Following the Republican National Committee’s decision to dump out of the current process, an overwhelming 83 percent of Americans say it’s “important” for candidates to participate in presidential debates — including 80 percent of Republicans.

The RNC made news last week when they completed a long-considered move by voting unanimously to ban their candidates from participating in debates run by The Commission on Presidential Debates — the nonpartisan organization that has run the events since 1988.

The party will enforce the ban by requiring candidates to sign a pledge.

“Any presidential primary candidate who does not agree in writing, or who participates in any debate that is not a sanctioned debate, shall not be eligible to participate in any further sanctioned debates,” the resolution reads.

But according to a new POLITICO/Morning Consult poll taken after that vote, Americans aren’t down with candidates skipping debates, and don’t support the RNC’s specific decision.

Respondents to the poll were asked “To what extent do you think it is important, if at all, for presidential candidates to participate in presidential debates?”

Among all registered voters, 83 percent responded “Very important” (57%) or “Somewhat important” (26%), while just 11 percent responded “Not that important” (8%) or “Not at all important” (3%).

Among Republicans, 80 percent responded “Very important” (54%) or “Somewhat important” (26%), and 15 percent responded “Not that important” (11%) or “Not at all important” (4%).

The numbers for independents were similar to the Republicans, while among Democrats, 86 percent responded “Very important” (61%) or “Somewhat important” (25%), and 9 percent responded “Not that important” (7%) or “Not at all important” (2%).

Although there was a more marked partisan split and a higher percentage of undecided respondents, Americans disagreed with the RNC’s vote by greater than a two-to-one margin.

Respondents were told that “the Republican National Committee (RNC) voted to ban Republican presidential candidates from participating in debates sanctioned by the Commission on Presidential Debates, the bipartisan organization that governs general election presidential debates,” and were asked, “Do you support or oppose the RNC’s decision?”

Among all registered voters, just 22 percent responded “Strongly support” (10%) or “Somewhat support” (12%), while 49 percent responded “Somewhat oppose” (18%) or “Strongly oppose” (31%). Another 29 percent responded, “Don’t know / No opinion.”

And even among Republicans, a quite substantial minority disagreed with the RNC, with 37 percent responding “Strongly support” or “Somewhat support” and 34 percent responding “Somewhat oppose” or “Strongly oppose.”

The poll suggests that the RNC’s debate skipping pledge, at best, doesn’t figure to help candidates with Republican voters, and could hurt them with undecided voters in a general election.