BTRTN: The Glass Floor... Why Donald Trump's Approval Rating Never Budges

[reggieandlee]

Born To Run The Numbers on the fact that from Charlottesville to shitholes, all the way to the current raging wild firings and Stormy weather, Donald Trump's approval rating seems frozen in a narrow band from 38% to 43%:

http://www.borntorunthenumbers.com/2018/03/btrtn-glass-floor-why-trumps-approval.html

Excerpts: "Call it the glass floor. It is invisible and yet seemingly so impenetrable. What gives? Liberals spit out the words through clenched teeth: 'What will it take to make those uneducated Red State morons finally change their minds? What atrocity must Trump commit that will actually lower that approval rating?'

Contrarians at our core, it is our duty and burden here at BTRTN to challenge the premise and reframe the question.

It is indeed frustrating and galling to speculate what it will take to make Republicans think less of Donald Trump. But it also may miss the point. It is, we believe, more educational to ask what this president is doing to have earned the absolute blind and untouchable loyalty and devotion of 42% of the population. The question is not 'what must he do wrong to alienate this core,' but 'what is the fix that keeps these addicts coming back for more?' My fellow Americans, ask not what is appalling to liberals, ask what is so implausibly enthralling to red necks."

[Phoenix61]

1. He is their champion in their war against

the 21st century. Their very own Don Quixote only stupid and mean and without honor.

[Hoyt]

2. Its obvious. Sadly, a chuck of those who disapprove are just mad he hasnt deported

millions of families, nuked Iran, gone after Black Lives Matter more aggressively, and likely worse. That chuck will still vote for him if it comes to it.

[Girard442]

3. We'll never win over the Trumpoids.

The key now is to field good Democratic candidates everywhere and motivate the people who like them and hate Trump to get their butts to the polls.

[brewens]

4. We actually have a president that signed a gun control bill and says he would

confiscate guns first and ask questions later. He signed the bill that had the bump stock ban.

I've seen RWer's screaming bloody murder over that, but still the usual approval numbers. I would have thought that would do it if anything.

[CrispyQ]

5. Great article.

There is, sadly, one final issue that seems to be at play in the ferocious Republican commitment to Donald Trump.

Donald Trump legitimizes an immensely broad range of repulsive beliefs and attitudes that have long lingered under the surface of our country, shunned and disgraced in the eras of more enlightened leaders. For a certain portion of our population, Donald Trump makes it permissible to voice racist rage. He makes cheaters feel validated, whether they are cheating on their taxes, their spouses, or their employers. He gives liars permission to lie. Hey, you can practically hear them say, it’s o.k. I’m just doing what the President is doing.

[smirkymonkey]

9. This!

He legitimizes the worst of humanity. At their core, almost all of these people are scum. Whether they are racist, homophobic, sexist, liars, cheaters, selfish or just hateful in general, he represents them all and makes them feel that who they are, no matter how deplorable, is perfectly acceptable and even superior.

He is their champion and always will be, because face it, these people aren't going to change. They aren't ever going to become loving, fair-minded, honest and tolerant. The only way they will desert him would be if HE changed. And that probably won't happen either.

[CrispyQ]

10. He behaves badly & gets away with it & they want that for themselves.

When he survived mocking the disabled person, I knew we were in trouble. My friends all scoffed, "Trump will never be president." Then came the Access Hollywood tape & my friends all assured me, "See, Trump will never be president." I said, "If he can mock a disabled person & still be ahead, this won't affect him, either." And I was right.

And here we are with President Shithole.

[reggieandlee]

14. Thanks.

Thanks for the endorsement. For all of the emphasis on the economy and the single-issue voters, many people seem to agree that the paragraph that you highlight is the core issue. A sad commentary on the state of our union indeed. Thanks again for the kind word.

[Dyedinthewoolliberal]

6. I think

of that percentage some are just not very bright, and that is not their fault. There are also some (and I know a few) who are willfully ignorant. They refuse to admit he is the worst person to ever be in the White House. If they admit that, they have to concede Obama was a better president and that they will never do.................

[Merlot]

7. If trumpft were gone tomorrow, the republican agenda wouldn't change

He's finally saying all the things we've suspected was behind the republicans motivations for years. As long as he keeps saying and doing those things they will approve. No mystery there. They would only dissaprove if he were a democrat.

I also like the fact that they still approve of him in spite of the "bad behavior." I know they're hypocrits, but it's going to make it a bit harder for them to scream when a democrat has an affair with a porn star, or anyone.

[JHB]

8. Republicans predominate on single-issue voters because conservatives...

...have been cultivating them since the 1970s. It was one of their major tools in breaking up the Democratic Party's New Deal and postwar coalition. "Don't vote the way your union bosses tell you! They back dangerous radicals who want to take your guns and kill babies!"

[Sneederbunk]

11. The November elections will move the needle. Believe me.

[Grammy23]

12. They rarely confront the reality of his presidency. Their news sources just pat them on the head

and confirm their biases. No critical thinking skills needed because there is no need. The pablum is stirred and spooned out in soothing doses. In addition, they got a “leader” who tells them it is okay to be who you are, even if who you are is a bigoted asshole jackass. Feel free to say what you want to anyone within earshot. And if they complain, accuse them of being bigoted. Throw back to them the accusations they have of you.

tRump just tells THEM they are the true victims and that they just need to keep believing him and what he says. They are groomed to distrust any other news source besides him or Fox. Verifying that what he says is the truth never enters their pea size brain because....why would he lie to us??

When the let down comes and it will, the blowback to him could be massive. I recall the horror and revulsion I felt when I realized that Bill Cosby was probably a wolf in sheep’s clothing. I could have cried because since my teen years I had laughed at his routines, bought his records and faithfully watched The Cosby Show every Thursday night. I had returned to college in those years and it was my retreat from my studies, my chance to relax and laugh. So when the truth about him began to sink in, it was a gut punch. I felt sickened to have been lulled into really being a fan while in reality, he deserved no one’s loyalty.

tRump will face the same thing in time. I have no idea what will tip the balance for his die hard supporters. Maybe it will be Mueller’s final report (indictments?). Maybe they will get tired of the upheaval in DC, the unending chaos. Something will bring it all crashing down and when it does, it won’t be pretty. He will lose those loyal fans, his base and nothing....NOTHING...he says or does can change things back for him. I hope I live to see his undoing. No one I can think of deserves it more.

[hurl]

13. Radio & other media

Right-wing radio and other media spent years cultivating rage junkies by playing on their perceived victim status. These people just want to 'piss off liberal snowflakes' out of resentment, and Trump does that better than anyone.