WP-Pew Research Poll: Voters Don't Care about Big-Name Endorsements

While big-name endorsements of political candidates grab a headline or two, they seem to carry little weight with voters. A Washington Post-Pew Research Center poll showed that more than six in 10 Republicans and GOP-leaning Independents said such endorsements made no difference, The Washington Post political blog The Fix reported.

For example, 70 percent said an endorsement by Rep. Michele Bachman, R-Minn., wouldn’t matter, while 10 percent said it would make them more likely to support the candidate and 18 percent said it would make them less likely to support the candidate, the Post reported.

The survey also tested newspaper endorsements and those by the clergy.

An identical 70 percent of GOP voters and GOP-leaning Independents said an endorsement from a priest wouldn’t matter, and 73 percent said the same about a newspaper endorsement, according to the Post.