Reelection prospects darkening

[struggle4progress]

APR. 15, 2020
Ed Kilgore

... past precedents of poor economic conditions blowing up presidential reelection candidacies (from Herbert Hoover to Jimmy Carter to George H.W. Bush) seem inadequate to the kind of disaster COVID-19 poses. But there’s also no example of a president being reelected in the midst of economic calamity on the grounds that it wasn’t entirely his fault. Given the extraordinarily polarized foundation on which Trump has built his political career and his presidency, it’s hard to imagine a figure less likely to inspire sudden respect and appreciation among those not already in his camp (even the regularly pro-Trump polling from Rasmussen currently shows as many Americans strongly disapproving of the job he is doing as approving of it by any degree). ...

... He clearly will not be able to campaign as the triumphant engineer of an economic boom created by bulldozing the environment and shiftless workers and godless foreigners while showering tax dollars on wealthy American job-creators. His other credentials for a second term are compelling mostly to people who want to return this country to the 1950s. That’s always going to be a .. minority.

https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2020/04/trumps-re-election-2020-polls-coronavirus.html

[struggle4progress]

1. Odd man out as approval ratings soar for world leaders

Published: April 14, 2020 at 1:58 p.m. ET
By Paul Brandus

... During a crisis, Americans typically rally around the flag — and their president. During the Persian Gulf War in 1991, George H.W. Bush’s approval soared 30 percentage points in six weeks to 89%. His son’s rocketed 40 points — in 10 days to 90% — following the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

Numbers like these — clearly bipartisan and nearly unanimous — tell us that while Americans are always hungry for leadership, that hunger is never so great as when it counts most: When lives are on the line, when there has been a shock to the system, when we are scared and need reassurance that all will be OK.

Yet such approval has eluded President Trump. Two poll of polls — Real Clear Politics and FiveThirtyEight — show his overall approval at 45.2% and 44.3%, respectively, right about where they were before the you-know-what hit the fan earlier this year ...

... the president has very publicly insisted that he’s not responsible for anything that has gone wrong, and has said the blame lies elsewhere. The governors, the media, Dr. Anthony Fauci — anyone other than the person he sees in the mirror every morning ..

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/trump-is-odd-man-out-as-approval-ratings-soar-for-world-leaders-handling-of-the-coronavirus-pandemic-2020-04-14

[struggle4progress]

2. Leaders and laggards

https://www.economist.com/graphic-detail/2020/04/15/americans-are-not-rallying-around-donald-trump-during-the-pandemic

[struggle4progress]

3. Scarborough: 'You can't be conservative and support Donald Trump'

BY JOE CONCHA - 04/15/20 03:22 PM EDT

MSNBC's Joe Scarborough said Wednesday that "you can't be conservative and support Donald Trump," with the former member of the GOP claiming that "lifelong Republicans" are telling him they look at Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D-N.Y.) and "they're like, 'God, there's a leader'" ...

"I don’t think the media should run the daily briefings, but it’s not because I’m afraid they’re helping Donald Trump," Scarborough said Wednesday morning. "They’re not news" ...

https://thehill.com/homenews/media/492993-scarborough-you-cant-be-conservative-and-support-donald-trump

[CTyankee]

10. Well, he's not exactly renouncing his past sins for being a conservative all those years and being

snarky about Obama and Hillary. No, now the party has changed so he's gotta. Nope, this is the same party you used to like and promote on your show! You don't remember? Well, there's videotape...

[CaliforniaPeggy]

4. I'm glad to read this article.

Along with your posts supporting your op, you have painted an excellent portrait of this failed psychopath of a person.

He must be defeated, and soundly, in November.

Your post gives me hope that it will happen.

[struggle4progress]

5. TV Approval Ratings Drop

by Wayne Friedman , Staff Writer, Yesterday

President Trump’s TV ratings are going down ... His approval ratings.

One is affecting the other. It has to do with his daily press conferences about COVID-19, which run as long as two hours at a time. Most of the time, they feature Trump's ramblings or his attempts at a campaign rally ...

The quality of the content ... includes attacks on the media and others. And it may be having an effect ... The content doesn't offer much truth and facts.

... when it comes to Trump or any source of dubious information, there is an easy decision: avoid it, until proven otherwise.

... Teenage-bullying words, name-calling against politicians and/or reporters at a time when bodies keep piling up, may work for some. But not for Americans who expect leadership and vision in a crisis.

https://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/349988/trumps-tv-approval-ratings-drop.html

[struggle4progress]

6. Approval of handling of coronavirus is net negative

Grace Panetta

... Trump's approval rating for how he's handled the coronavirus outbreak is underwater for the first time since March 1 in Morning Consult's polling.

Trump's approval rating for his handling of the coronavirus crisis has fallen from 53% in the March 17 to 20 version of the company's poll to 45% in the April 10 to 12 survey, which polled 1,987 registered voters.

In the same amount of time, Trump's disapproval rating has increased by 10 percentage points, from 39% between March 17 and 20 to 49% between April 10 and 12, leaving him with a net negative approval rating of four percentage points in the latest poll.

In the previous poll, conducted from April 3 to 5, Trump had a net positive approval rating of one percentage point, with 48% approval and 47% disapproval ...

https://www.businessinsider.com/approval-of-trump-on-coronavirus-is-underwater-for-first-time-2020-4

[struggle4progress]

7. Bad check

E.J. Dionne Jr.
April 15, 2020 at 3:57 p.m. EDT

... First, everything he does is self-serving ... Second, his instincts are authoritarian. Third, his bravado, designed to conceal, only highlights his awareness of the deep political trouble he’s in because of his “corruption, carelessness, self-dealing, disinformation, ignorance and just plain meanness.” After all, “pandemics have a way of cutting through a lot of noise and spin to remind us of what is real and what is important.”

Former president Barack Obama used those words in his Tuesday video endorsing former vice president Joe Biden and didn’t even have to mention Trump’s name, a sign of how “total” the president’s failure is.

This week will thus be remembered not for any of Trump’s antics but as the moment when Democrats rediscovered the Spirit of 2018, the year that gave them control of the House because every wing of the party realized that nothing good can happen in our politics until this plague of a presidency is .. contained .. and .. defeated ...

... Obama’s speech underscored that Democrats are far less divided than their primary battle suggested. From health care to climate change to economic inequality, Democrats have moved across the board in a more progressive direction. Obama has done so himself because he sees openings for social reform now that he didn’t have when he was in office ...

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/democrats-in-array-and-trump-in-denial/2020/04/15/9ffd6486-7f48-11ea-9040-68981f488eed_story.html

[struggle4progress]

8. Trump's most ardent fans love him more

Story Hinckley
Christian Science Monitor•April 15, 2020

... “The man is not a magician, but he’s doing everything he can. … He believes in America and he believes in Americans,” says Ms. Romero, who lost her job at a car dealership outside of Chicago two weeks ago because of COVID-19.

She tunes into President Trump’s coronavirus briefings every evening, saying they make her feel reassured and hopeful ...

... President Trump’s core supporters – call them “superfans” – remain staunchly behind a chief executive they believe was Making America Great Again before a pandemic unexpectedly upset his plans ...

... According to a recent YouGov poll, 27% of those surveyed “strongly approve” of President Trump’s current job performance. That may be a rough measure for Mr. Trump’s true base, the voters who will not abandon him under almost any foreseeable circumstance ...

https://news.yahoo.com/crisis-trump-most-ardent-fans-192300386.html

[uponit7771]

11. Cult members

[struggle4progress]

12. +

[Squinch]

15. Morons.

[SammyWinstonJack]

17. Ms. Romero is crackers. tRump believes in America and Americans she says.

He's doing everything he can to enrich himself and bring this country down. How deluded is one to believe otherwise.

[Mariana]

20. They aren't "fans" or "supporters". They're worshipers. nt.

[gratuitous]

21. I kinda don't care about these people's votes

There's no way to win them over, no sense in catering to their beliefs, prejudices, and ignorance. One fact I've kept in my back pocket and pulled out from time to time to reassure myself is in the original article from New York Magazine: "it’s hard to imagine a figure less likely to inspire sudden respect and appreciation among those not already in his camp."

Trump may have done great things for True Believers, but what has he done to attract new support from people who didn't vote for him? You NEVER hear from people who say, "You know, I didn't vote for Trump in 2016, but after he did X I totally turned around and support him now."

[SunSeeker]

9. That's why Mitch wants him to push through judges now, even pull an unconditional maneuver to do it.

Mitch and Trump know there's a good chance that right now will be his only chance to fo it.

[DFW]

14. Hardly anyone doubts that Trump will lose the election

It's the counting of the votes we have to worry about:

[malaise]

16. He is fucking history

Bye bye you vile MAGAcretin!

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

22. He's doing a whole lot of things to history. Altering, rewriting, fabricating, ...

... and yes, he's fucking history.

(I thought he'd be fucking history in 2016. Imagine my nausea as the results came in)

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

18. Or, election prospects darkening

If there's a way to stop the election, R's will try it.

"Barr"ing that, if there's a way to suppress minority votes, R's will try it. Again.

If there's a way to cancel the census, keeping gerrymandered districts, R's will try it.

[ProfessorGAC]

19. Barring That!

Good one Bozo! I couldn't use quotes in the title. Adds a smilie when I do that. Don't understand code enough to know why.

[Demovictory9]

23. expect this to be a very ugly election season... Trump will behave like a wounded animal