Is Donald Trump
another George H.W. Bush or Jimmy Carter? Repeated controversies and muddled
decisions from Trump have some thinking that Trump will soon become another
1-term president. But the new Washington post/ABC News poll depicts a
contradictory tale altogether, continuing to mystify onlookers.
A majority of
Americans see President Trump as ‘Unpresidential’; he has never reached a 50%
approval rating. BUt recently he did see a surge in his support, inching closer
with his approval rating now at 47% among registered voters. Regardless of who
holds the presidency, political
psychology has long thought that it is difficult for a sub 50% (approval
rating) president to regain the White House. At the same time, Trump is riding
a strong economic wave, and a recent poll shows 51% of registered voters that
believe the economy is better. Trump is riding a strong economic wave, that
despite some questionable policies, hasn’t yet faltered.
This news makes
his base of supporters cheer, with his opponents flustered. This is a president
that openly lied (telling a falsehood that was known to be false), attacked the
1st amendment by calling the free press the ‘enemy of the people’, committed
felony crimes, covered up felony crimes by himself and others, committed obstruction
of justice, verbally insults our allies while praising and unfriendly dictator
states. Yet, his base has not wavered, as he continues to have a high 90%+
approval rating among the Republican party.
The Democrats
have strong evidence of impeachable offences committed by President Trump, and
the drumbeat is getting louder within the Democrate caucus in the House of
Representatives to move forward and open an Impeachment Inquiry. The party
needs to now wrestle with the right thing
to do vs. the strategic thing to do.
Though George
H.W. Bush and Jimmy Carter failed to regain the White House for a 2nd term, but
both were struggling with a bad economy. President Trump is presiding over a
strong economy, low unemployment and
economic growth. Apart from these benefits, he has gotten Republicans in
Congress, as well as the conservative media, to fall in line with his talking
points -- and effectively co opted them as the state propaganda machine. So
emfatic are they that Trump can do no wrong, that they frequently praise Trump
for the exact actions for which Trump and conservative media previously
attacked his predecessor for. He Tweets daily to his 60 million Twitter
followers., who believe him over the news organizations, regardless of how
outlandish some of his Tweets are.
This creates a
real hurdle for the 2020 election: how do Democrats highlight Trump’s faults,
if none of his followers believe anything true and negative about him? When
factual stories -- sometimes captured on video with Trump himself saying it --
are posted on social media, his followers comment with “FAKE NEWS.” How does one reason with someone that insists
the sky is purple even when it is blue to everyone else?
Political psychologists
analysis of Trump (not as a conclusive diagnosis, but rather just an
observation) is that he displays all the traits of classic narcissism. And some
have noted that while Trump lies, openly, that through his own distorted view
of the world, he may actually ‘believe’ he is telling the truth.
For Democrats, they are going to have a difficult -- if not
impossible -- time in getting his believers to change their views. So for them,
they need to nominate a strong, well-prepared candidate. Someone who has a vision
for the future, strong character, and the ability to resonate to a wide
spectrum of voters, and display the winning personality they lacked in 2016.
The 2020
reelection will be historical, regardless of who wins. It is one of those
moments in history, a turning point in the direction of the nation.
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