Support for GOP Presidential Win Holds Steady Among Partners After Trump Has Become Presumptive Nominee
Solution providers still prefer by a healthy margin that America's next president be a Republican after the remaining primary opponents to controversial businessman Donald Trump have dropped out, a survey has found.
Nearly 59 percent of channel partners said this month that the Republican presidential nominee will be better for their business, while just 35 percent said the Democratic presidential nominee would be better, according to a poll of 303 solution providers conducted by CRN parent The Channel Company.
That's virtually unchanged from April, when a poll by The Channel Company of 422 solution providers found that more than 57 percent said the Republican nominee would be better for their business, with only 34 percent who said the Democratic side would be better.
"Democrats feel they have to hurt business owners to help other people," said Leo Bletnitsky, founder and president of Las Vegas Med I.T., who supported having a Republican president in the May poll. "Their answer is always raising taxes, and the services never get any better."
Since the April survey, Republicans Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas and Gov. John Kasich of Ohio have suspended their presidential campaigns, virtually assuring that Trump -- who holds positions on immigration, trade and guest worker visas that many say differ from GOP orthodoxy -- will become the Republican nominee.
On the Democratic side, big victories in late April primaries in the Northeast by former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton virtually guarantee that she’ll win more primary and caucus delegates than Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont.
Bletnitsky said the passage of the Affordable Care Act in 2010 has been a double whammy for him, as it has resulted in both higher health-care costs for his business and lower Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement levels for Bletnitsky’s health-care customers.
"Obamacare has really created so much turmoil for everyone, both for my clients as well as the patients," Bletnitsky said. "They [my clients] are having to spend more time to make less money, which means they have less money to pay me."
As a result, medical practices have been asking to meet with Bletnitsky to figure out ways they can reduce their IT costs, which Bletnitsky said is not the conversation he wishes to be having.
On the other side, channel partner executive Steve Burgess said he expects Clinton’s support for increasing the minimum wage, maintaining social welfare programs and increasing taxes on the wealthy to result in more money ending up in the pockets of his clients. Burgess is the president of Santa Maria, Calif.-based Burgess Consulting & Forensics, and supported the Democratic side in The Channel Company May poll.
Burgess said he prefers Clinton's economic policy, particularly as it relates to her support of free trade, which he said should help stimulate economic growth.
"Both of them [Trump and Sanders] seem to be somewhat oriented around protectionism, and I don't think that's the best path," Burgess said. "Free trade is the way to go."
Republican-leaning solution providers contacted by CRN were divided over whether they'll pull the lever for Trump come November.
Guthrie Chamberlain, founder and president of Marietta, Ohio-based Venture Consulting Group, said he has historically voted for Republicans and prefers the fiscal policies and tax structure typically advocated by the GOP. But Chamberlain said he doesn't feel that Trump was truthful or honest during the GOP primary campaign, and is unsure of whether he'll support the New York real estate mogul in the general election.
"I have a lack of confidence in Trump's ability to lead this country," said Chamberlain, who participated in The Channel Company's May poll.
Bletnitsky acknowledged that Trump is bombastic and politically untested, but said his thinking hasn't changed about preferring a Republican, given how disastrous he feels it would be to have another Democrat in the Oval Office.
"Overall, I really agree with what Trump is saying, though I don't always agree with how he's saying it," Bletnitsky said.
Glenn Brookman of Herndon, Va.-based MicroPath works as a Republican election judge and supported Kasich during the primary season. To Brookman, Trump's nomination makes it even more important to support GOP congressional candidates in November to ensure that a President Trump is kept in line.
"The Democrats stand for one thing," Brookman said, "and the Republicans stand for something entirely different."