let's not kid ourselves that this crisis will make Trump a 1 term president. approval rate unchanged

[Demovictory9]

He's got 40% of the voters stuck to him like glue. This will still be a turnout election.

https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/trump-approval-ratings/

[liberalmuse]

1. Trump might not be around.

It's like he's trying to get coronavirus. He'll probably take a few of his handshakers with him, so that percentage is going to drop.

[John Fante]

2. 40% isn't enough to win the election. Even 46% likely isn't enough.

That was a his percentage of the vote in 2016.

[TwilightZone]

3. He's down 2% since his post-impeachment peak February 18th.

"According to FiveThirtyEight's polling average as of March 10, 53.1 percent of Americans disapprove of Trump and 42.7 percent approve.

Trump's post-impeachment trial acquittal peak on February 18 was 51 percent disapproval and 44.6 percent approval, before the coronavirus emergency took hold on U.S. soil."

https://www.newsweek.com/trump-approval-rating-coronavirus-1491627

The drop is reflected in the graph in your post.

[VMA131Marine]

4. This crisis may give Trump the excuse he needs

to cancel the elections, “until conditions are more normal.”

This is Trump’s Reichstag Fire 🔥

[dustyscamp]

5. I spoke to a few Cons where I work and they are still 100% behind him

After all the incompetence, corruption and cruelty he still has their votes locked in. Oh my god, we are living in some fucked up times

[Demovictory9]

7. everyone's mind is set.

[maxrandb]

11. The cruelty is like crack to them.

It's actually refreshing to realize that these asspickles were walking and working amongst us with a mask of humanity sheltering their true nature.

That mask has now been ripped off. Now you can finally see them as they truly are.

[shanti]

12. Give it a few weeks

They won't know what hit them.

[ooky]

18. They're just like him, too vain to admit their mistakes.

Gave up on them long ago.

[GulfCoast66]

6. I agree and disagree. It will be a tough election to win. Sitting Presidents are hard to defeat.

But if people start dying like in Italy then the whole paradigm changes.

Nothing like watching granny die gasping for breath and going home to see an Ad with trump saying Hoax. Or 15 cases soon will be 0. Or countless other things he has spent the past 6 weeks saying. That shit could move the needle. But he has not thought of that since it is all about money to him. He could give a shit about a loved one dying in agony as long as it does not affect him.

[HarlanPepper]

8. This

As was the case with W and the war it will be a cumulative effect.

[intrepidity]

16. How could it *not* be like Italy?

Are we *that* exceptional? (No)

[GulfCoast66]

17. If I were a betting man I would put money on it being the same or worse.

But we are shutting things a little faster than they did in some places no thanks to the president. Our governors, even some republicans are out in front of him. If I was a praying man I would pray we are doing enough to prevent a situation like Lombardy is in.

If enough schools and event close it will help. I fear it is too late. Because we are still not testing. So it is probably way more widespread than we know. Here in Florida there is still no discussion about shutting down the tourism industry and that will bite us in the ass.

[mitch96]

9. This is a great opportunity to push MFA. It will be fresh in peoples minds how important

It is to have medical coverage when you need it. It would be interesting to see what it's gonna cost a person who gets the virus. Forget about the cost of testing.. It's crazy expensive I hear.
$1600 to over $3000..
YMMV
m

[edhopper]

10. It's not his 40%

It's the 10% of undecideds that matter.

[Demovictory9]

20. true

[Sugarcoated]

24. I thought it was 20%

[gulliver]

13. Those 40% approve of themselves. Trump's just their game piece.

They'll forget him immediately once he loses and pretend he was someone else's idea. That's what happened with Dubya, and it will happen even more with Trump.

[SMC22307]

14. Give it time. 30% of the country is perpetually insane...

think back to the Dubya years. Trump's cultists amount to some additional percentage. If the coronavirus takes off and the economy tanks, he's done. The malleable middle won't be happy with the financial beating. Regardless, there needs to be MASSIVE GOTV efforts.

[Poiuyt]

15. The only thing trump has going for him is the economy

If that starts to tank (because of the pandemic or something else), some of his followers will peel away. Of course, there will be a lag between the declining economy and when people actually feel it. There will also be a lag between when people feel it and when they assign blame. There might not be enough time for any impact before the election.

[Jspur]

19. Desperation changes the

way people act. In '08 they were a bunch of racist people who voted for Obama simply because they were desperate for someone to fix the financial crisis. In normal circumstances they wouldn't have voted for him but because they feared the economic collapse of the country they voted for him.

The same could be the undoing of Trump if this drags on for a few more months. The stock market will continue to collapse along with people getting sick and dying. This will cause desperation for a lot of people and will cause some Trumpers to vote him out.

[herding cats]

21. It's just now here.

Believe it or not, the hoax thing is still out there. It will die an ugly death, but many are still fully believing it right now. Mom, dad, grandma and grandpa will get seriously ill, many will die. That's going to be the death of his hoax meme.

News flash!: Several young people will be hospitalized. We'll survive but the narrative will shift when we realize we don't die but are seriously impacted (per Italy's statistics). We're not truly invincible. That's a fact. We just survive way better than older people, which doesn't mean we escape all cases. That's just false.

We're at the very beginning of our infection level. Wait a month and get back to me on this.

Sadly, I expect a lot of eye opening local moments.

[totodeinhere]

23. A lot of younger people will feel profound effects from this crisis even though they won't die.

We could be headed to a deep depression which will affect millions and cause widespread suffering.

[totodeinhere]

22. I'm afraid that this crisis might make it easier for him to steal the election again.

n/t