… In 2018 and 2020, Democrats ran successfully against Trump’s unpopular persona and agenda. But he’s neither president nor on the ballot now, facts that undercut Democratic attempts to use him as the foil in Virginia’s gubernatorial race last fall. That’s when the liberal Center for American Progress began exploring different approaches. …
In separate polls, Hart Research and Global Strategy Group asked Americans who don’t strongly align with Trump about the GOP’s evolution. Their research suggested that many saw extensive changes in the last five to 10 years in the Republican Party, and in key sectors of the electorate – independents, non-Whites, Whites without college degrees – substantial shares said those changes have been for the worse.
In districts and states with battleground races for the House, the Senate and governorships, pollsters found that assailing “a new extreme MAGA agenda” moved voters more than hitting the GOP’s quest to “lower taxes for the rich.” The pollsters also concluded there was broad agreement with the idea that Republicans were “willing to do anything for power.”
Those findings anchor the new argument Biden and fellow Democrats have begun making. It seeks to cast the Republican quest for power as a threat not just to voters’ economic interests but also to American values, personal rights and democracy itself. CONTINUED
John Harwood, CNN
The OPINION TODAY email newsletter is a concise daily rundown of significant new poll results and insightful analysis. It’s FREE. Sign up here: opiniontoday.substack