The Reagan Institute survey suggests that GOP support for aid to Ukraine will rise if figures such as Pence continue to inform voters of the war’s stakes. For instance, after pollsters explained that U.S. aid to Ukraine is a small percentage of the Pentagon’s budget, that Ukraine controls most of its territory, and that the war has seriously degraded the Russian military, the percentage of Republicans who said that U.S. assistance has been worth it jumped by 18 points, to 59 percent.
The data imply that, in the absence of energetic and effective leadership, negative partisanship determines voter attitudes. Republicans soured on aid to Ukraine not because they side with Russia, but because they consider the war to be another wasteful Biden project. When Republicans learn the facts behind U.S. involvement, however, their instinctual hawkishness kicks in. What they have lacked is a prominent GOP spokesman for freedom.
Mike Pence has stepped into the breach. Of course, at this stage, Republican support for Ukraine is considerably stronger than Republican support for Pence’s campaign.
[Support for Ukraine also has a better argument than Pence’s campaign for the nomination does. However, Continetti is correct that Pence could prove valuable in making a cogent and coherent case for support in the GOP for continuing to aid Ukraine. If he does, though, it might have the effect of marginalizing him in the nomination contest as a throwback to Bush-era global policies, which needless to say are not terribly popular among Republican voters. It’s a conundrum for Pence, but he appears to be making the more selfless choice. — Ed]
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