ATTENTION AMAC MEMBERS: Republican Candidate Poll Results are in!

To say the gap between conservative and liberal ideology is vast would be an understatement. However, what many may not realize is candidate preference for members within the same party can also create divisions. While these divisions usually end as soon as a candidate is elected to represent the party, it is still important to analyze the opinions and divisions within either major political party.

AMAC recently conducted a poll for their members hoping to find who their preferred candidate would be to represent the Republican party during the next presidential election. This poll, while unscientific, gives a good indication of early member preferences. This article summarizes the results and provides arguments for the most heavily voted responses by using comments taken directly from our members in the comments section. AMAC greatly values feedback from our members and we are truly grateful for all the input and participation they provide us with, let’s go to the results!

The poll question and answers are listed below, with the percentage our members voted for each listed beside it:

• Who would you prefer as the next Republican Presidential nominee?
• Former President Donald Trump: 44 %
• Donald Trump, but the baggage that comes with him leads me to prefer another candidate: 16%
• Florida Governor Ron DeSantis: 33%
• Texas Senator Ted Cruz: 2%
• Former VP Mike Pence: 3%
• Other, Comment below: 2%

Former President Donald Trump received the highest percentage of votes out of all the listed choices with 44 percent. This was followed by current Florida Governor Ron DeSantis who received 33 percent of the vote.

The third highest vote was not only the most interesting, but also the primary reason this poll was created in the first place. The AMAC team had noticed many comments from members expressing their support for President Trump while also highlighting their concern of media and leftist sabotage, or other forms of “baggage” directed towards him if he were to seek the oval office once more. AMAC wanted to get a rough estimate of how many of our members share this sentiment, and according to this poll 16 percent identify with this, or roughly one out of every six people. Rounding out the rest of our results were Cruz, Pence and “other” who finished with two, three and two percent of the vote, respectively.

It is important to preface the rest of this analysis with this: It is extremely early in the presidential election cycle to gauge a prospective nominee, even when a potential front-runner happens to be a man who has already been president. Nonetheless, the results sent a clear message.

They reflected what a majority of most polling currently shows in the Republican party. Donald Trump is the early favorite to win the Republican Presidential nomination, however our numbers indicate a closer race between he and DeSantis than most, though they show he would still prevail. The interesting part that this will dive into involves choice three: “Donald Trump, but the baggage that comes with him leads me to prefer another candidate.” Sixteen percent.

From our polling, Trump holds a roughly eleven-point lead over his closest competitor, DeSantis. However, the sixteen percent for this choice is truly what would determine a hypothetical Trump-DeSantis showdown. Were DeSantis to take ALL that vote, (impossible, don’t let democrats/news media tell you getting close to one hundred percent of any demographic is possible) he would receive 49 percent of the vote, besting Trump by 5 percent. However, if DeSantis were to receive 12 of that 16 percent – and even that would be high for a group that says their true preference is Trump – and the other four went to Trump, that would place him at 45 percent and Trump at 48 percent, giving Trump the victory.

But the comments are what truly gives these results life. Noticeably more than half of our nearly two thousand comments were Pro-Trump in some way. See some of the most agreed upon comments from the pro-Trump crowd below:

“Poll question brings up “baggage” like Trump has all these “real” issues. Most of the “baggage” has been manufactured by the current administration, toted by their lackies in the media, and often delivered by the “bellboys” in the Republican establishment.”

“Forget about personality, he’ll get the job done, like Patton. He’s not looking for an easy job, he wants to MAGA.”

“Donald J. Trump fought for us for four years against ENORMOUS odds! He donated every penny of his salary. He needs us now, how can we desert the man who put us first? America first and Make America Great Again, are still the most important things right now! STAND WITH PRESIDENT TRUMP!”

“Getting tired of hearing about the baggage, nasty tweets, personality, etc., for Donald J. Trump, our best President ever, PERIOD. People need to refer to ALL his accomplishments while he was in office and at the same time having to deal with the constant daily annoyances against he and his Family. Would like to see someone walk in Donald J. Trump’s shoes from 2015 to present and see if they could do anything better than he did.”

And from the pro-DeSantis crowd:

“My ideal ticket for 2024 would be Ron DeSantis for President with Rand Paul as running mate.”

“Governor DeSantis for President and Governor Kristi Noem as Vice President.”

“Think DeSantis would be the best bet, TRUMP would make a great Sec. of State, he knows how to deal with the foreign countries.”

You can see the energy between both sets of comments is drastically different, but one of the more frequent comments called for a Trump-DeSantis ticket, something that would perhaps persuade the sixteen percent that voted for option three in the poll. These read:

“America would love a Trump/DeSantis ticket. And then DeSantis in 2024/28.”

“Trump for his remaining four years and DeSantis for his eight years!”

“What I’d like to see, is a Trump DeSantis ticket.”

“ I would like to see Trump with DeSantis as his running mate. I don’t care about what Trump says as much as I like his policies.”

In terms of the other three options, they polled so low that if the primaries were being held right now, they would fall off the ballot all together rather quickly.

The key takeaway from this poll does not have to do with the vote numbers. Instead, the comments revealed the strongest emotion in voting during this poll, and even may highlight the dream scenario for the majority of those 16 percent: A Trump/DeSantis ticket, followed by DeSantis taking the reigns in almost a decade from now. This will change, it always does. The 2014 midterms came and went and if one had to guess it would have been Jeb v. Hillary come 2016. Donald Trump? Not even a thought. Here we are, earlier in the cycle than the 2014 midterms were in relation to the 2016 election. This was simply to see where our members stand RIGHT NOW, and far from a prediction of the next presidential election, let alone the next three. But one thing is for certain. If AMAC members are any indication, the conservative movement throughout America is becoming a passionate force to be reckoned with. Whenever this field clears itself out, and one candidate stands alone, it is evident Americans and AMAC members alike will stand behind whoever the nominee will be to take down this radical establishment during America’s next chapter. We are living in an inarguably chaotic time in American history, but it truly is always darkest before the dawn. AMAC and its’ members will have a major voice long into the future of American politics and this poll reflects the passion they share. Beyond the destruction from the current administration, there is much hope for America’s future.