12:29 p.m. ET, September 29, 2019
O’Rourke’s message has an audience, but it's a small one
Recently, Beto O’Rourke has made gun policy the signature issue of his presidential campaign, after the mass shooting in his hometown of El Paso, Texas. This has resulted in little change in the percentage of caucus-goers and primary voters supporting his campaign. That doesn’t mean that caucus-goers and voters aren’t hearing him, though.
As my colleague Jennifer Agiesta pointed out to me, the former Texas congressman does seem to get a small boost on the question of gun policy.
In Nevada, 7% of likely caucus-goers say he’s best candidate on gun policy. That’s much higher than the less than 1% who chose him as their number one choice for the nomination.
In South Carolina, 6% of likely primary voters said he was best on gun policy. Just 2% said he was their top choice for the nomination.
Indeed, O’Rourke scored higher on gun policy than any of the five issues we tested in either state. (Immigration was a close second, which is another issue O’Rourke has made a cornerstone to his campaign.)
O’Rourke’s problem is two-fold:
First, there are other issues besides gun policy in voters’ minds.
Second, the other Democratic candidates are talking about gun policy, too. The top three candidates who caucus-goers and voters say are best to handle gun policy are the same who they choose in the horserace.