Crowley Political Report

Pew Research Center's new poll suggests that in the battle for primacy between Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio, Bush's touting of his experience as Florida's governor for eight years may not be as effective in wooing Republican voters as is Rubio's claim of being the guy with new ideas.

Few polls go as deep or as complex as Pew Research Center's. 

One of the most interesting findings is this:

Since March, the share of all registered voters who say it is more important for a presidential candidate to have “new ideas and a different approach” has surged – with virtually all of the increase coming among Republican and Republican-leaning voters.

Today, by more than two-to-one (65% to 29%), Republican and Republican-leaning registered voters say it is more important that a candidate have new ideas than “experience and a proven record.” Just five months ago, GOP voters valued experience and a proven record over new ideas, 57% to 36%.

That finding also suggests a reason why Donald Trump is leading among GOP presidential candidates. 

Pew's also finds that among Democrats, new ideas are less of a concern.

Opinion among Democratic voters continues to be more evenly divided: 50% say it is more important for a candidate to have experience and a proven record, while 42% view new ideas and a different approach as more important. This is little changed from March (46% experience, 49% new ideas).

This is a very detailed poll and takes some time to absorb. It is well worth the effort to get a deeper understanding of how issues are playing out among voters. The poll also includes more than a dozen charts some of which are below. 

And unlike most media polls, it has significant sample size.

The latest national survey by Pew Research Center, conducted Sept. 22-27 among 1,502 adults, including 1,136 registered voters, gauges the impact of various issue positions on the preferences of possible Republican and Democratic primary voters.

Lean back, relax and read the entire survey here.