Poll: Sen. Manchin to Face ‘Strong Political Blowback’ for Backing Trump Conviction, Lose Many Voters

WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 28: Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) speaks during a Senate Energy Subcommit
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Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) “could face strong political blowback if he votes to convict President Donald Trump on one or two articles of impeachment passed by the Democratic-controlled House,” the results of a poll of West Virginia voters announced Friday revealed.

The poll found that 48 percent of respondents would view Sen. Manchin more negatively if he voted to remove Trump from office. Meanwhile, 20 percent would view him more favorably.

Nearly on third of voters were neutral (32 percent) on whether Manchin supported or opposed removing Trump from office.

On Friday, the Hill wrote an article about the poll, noting that it had obtained the results exclusively. WPA Intelligence, the influential pro-taxpayer group that promotes limited government, carried out the recent poll of West Virginia voters on January 13 on behalf of the Club for Growth PAC.

Citing a January 13 memo containing the results of the poll, the Hill reported

The poll generally shows overwhelming opposition to removing Trump from office. Nearly seven in ten — 69 percent — West Virginia voters said they oppose doing so while only 27 percent voiced support. Overall, 67 percent of West Virginia voters approve of the job Trump is doing while 31 percent don’t approve and 2 percent had no opinion.

The poll also found a plurality of voters would view Manchin more favorably if he changed his party affiliation to Republican. Forty-three percent of voters said they would view Manchin more favorably if he were a Republican while 27 percent said they would see him less favorably and 30 percent said it wouldn’t make a difference.

According to the conservative Club for Growth PAC, it conducted a survey of 500 likely voters in West Virginia conducted between January 7 and January 9.

The survey found that across West Virginia there is “overwhelming opposition to removing Trump from office,” the Hill reported Friday.

Overall, nearly seven out of every ten West Virginian respondents approved of the job Trump is doing, compared to three in ten who disprove. Two percent did not have an opinion on the matter.

The PAC noted:

A recent poll of West Virginia voters conducted by WPA Intelligence on behalf of Club for Growth PAC finds strong support for President Trump and opposition to the Senate removing him from office. Further, West Virginia voters would be less favorable toward Senator Joe Manchin if he voted to remove President Trump and would improve their feelings toward Senator Manchin if he broke with Democrats.

Overall, “nearly seven-in-ten West Virginia voters say they oppose the Senate removing President Trump from office following the House impeaching him compared to around one-quarter who say they support removal,” WPA said.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), who had been holding on to the articles of impeachment against Trump since they were approved on December 18, signaled they would finally submit the papers, which was formally and ceremoniously done Wednesday. Historically, the House hands over the articles to the Senate for a trial after it votes to impeach. This time, it appeared Pelosi wanted to dictate how the Senate should conduct the trial, something that irked Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY).

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