The biggest potential blunder in the GOP’s attacks on EVs can be found in the Electoral College map. | Justin Sullivan/Getty ImagesI grew up in and around Detroit in the ‘70s, so naturally I’m a car guy. I’m also a veteran Republican political consultant with a warning for my party: Slam the brakes on the electric vehicle bashing. It will cost you on Election Day.
But when we asked voters to rate “electric car brands” the partisan divide was stark: GOP voters gave electric car brands a net 40 percent unfavorable rating, while Democrats gave EV brands a 15 percent net favorable rating. That’s a huge, 55-point gap between Republicans and Democrats. For one thing, our poll showed that independent voters look a lot more like Democrats than Republicans on this issue. Independents gave electric car brands a net 4 percent favorable rating, which suggests a critical demographic could be turned off by the GOP assault. In a close election where independent voters could tip the balance, that could cost Republicans.
If the GOP wants to declare war on the largest source of new manufacturing jobs in the most important electoral states, they do so at their peril. Amusingly, 27 percent of Republicans name government rebates as one of the two top reasons to buy or lease an electric vehicle, ranking rebates 4 percent higher than Democrats do! Washington’s conservative think tanks are out of touch with rank-and-file GOP voters on this one: Everybody loves getting money back from the government.