Gee, what’s on my Twitter feed this morning? Ah, a fresh bit of puffery from VTGOP Chair David Sunderland!
Ohio Gov @JohnKasich is surging in recent presidential polls & he's coming to speak w/ #VTers on October 9th. #VTGOP http://t.co/l4iiaLJPjA
— VTGOP Chair (@dasunderland) September 19, 2015
Fact-checking time!
RealClearPolitics’ average of the top national polls: John Kasich in 10th place with a measly 2.5%.
If that’s a surge, he must have started from negative 10.
Now, if Sunderland is talking New Hampshire specifically, he’s got a bit more ground to stand on. In RCP’s average of NH polls, Kasich is in third place with 10.3%. And he has legitimately “surged” in the Granite State; two months ago, he was down in bottom-feeder territory.
That’s a creditable figure. And a testament to the relatively clear-thinking nature of the NH Republican electorate, which is more interested in frugal, responsible government (and less interested in fact-free, over-the-top rhetoric) than Republicans nationwide.
In short, Sunderland got it right if he meant a very localized surge. But nationally? Kasich’s going nowhere.
