Tornado Alley (PROG)

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HOW LOW CAN TRUMP GO?
By Jennifer Rubin, December 8 at 12:00 PM

The Pew Research Center finds:
Currently, 32% of the public approves of the way [President] Trump is handling his job as president, while 63% disapprove. Trump’s job approval is little changed since October (34%), but lower than in early February (39%), a few weeks after Trump’s inauguration. …

While just 30% of Americans think senior Trump officials definitely had improper contacts with Russia during the campaign, a majority (59%) thinks such contacts definitely or probably occurred; 30% think they definitely or probably did not happen. In views of [special counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s] investigation, 56% are very or somewhat confident he will conduct the probe fairly.

There is no good news there for Trump or Republicans. Passage of tax legislation in both houses (still to be reconciled) and nonstop blather about the “deep state” and the “corrupt” FBI (odd rhetoric for the GOP to demean law enforcement, isn’t it?) have not arrested a historic slide in approval. (“Trump’s job rating of 32% is lower than those of recent presidents dating back to Ronald Reagan near the end of their first year in office.”)

Trump is not holding onto his base despite grandstanding efforts (e.g. moving the embassy to Jerusalem, attacking the special counsel). It seems that “his job ratings are lower today among Republicans than they were in February. … Currently, 76% of Republicans and Republican leaners approve of Trump’s job performance, compared with 84% who did so in February.” His ratings with other groups are remarkably poor:
Trump’s job rating has declined among several groups that gave him relatively high ratings in February, including older adults (38% of those 50 and older approve today, compared with 47% who did so in February) and whites (41% now, 49% then), as well as white evangelical Protestants (61% now, 78% then). … While 40% of men approve of the way Trump is handling his job as president, only 25% of women do so. Fewer than a third of adults with postgraduate degrees (24%) or four-year college degrees (27%) approve of the way Trump is handling his job, compared with 35% of those who have not completed college.

Trump’s incessant focus on his base is very likely an attempt to insulate himself from any findings the special counsel may present. And it’s not a winning strategy. Republicans are not as critical of Mueller as one might expect, given the nonstop propaganda from Fox News and the rest of the right-wing echo chamber. The Pew poll finds that “44% of Republicans and Republican leaners are at least somewhat confident that Robert Mueller will conduct a fair investigation, compared with 68% of Democrats and Democratic leaners. … Among Republicans and Republican leaners, 58% of those who say senior Trump officials probably or definitely had improper contact with Russia during the 2016 campaign are at least somewhat confident in Mueller to conduct a fair investigation, compared with 39% of those who think no improper contact occurred.”

Things don’t look much better for Republicans when you drill down on 2018 Senate and House races. For example, Cook Political Report says: “In a recruiting victory for Democrats, former Gov. Phil Bredesen announced today that he will run for the open seat created by the retirement of GOP U.S. Sen. Bob Corker. Bredesen’s announcement puts the race into the Toss Up column, a rating change that has larger implications for the 2018 Senate map.” Depending on what happens in Alabama’s special Senate election on Tuesday, Democrats have a small but not insubstantial chance of winning both houses.

It’s heartening to see that selling lies and throwing red meat to a narrow contingent of the electorate don’t get you much support — or even help you retain the support you once had. Trump hasn’t been able to arrest the steady erosion in his support. But he has been able to galvanize opposition. That’s quite an accomplishment after just 11 months in office.
-WASH POST, December 8, 2017

https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/right-turn/wp/2017/12/08/how-low-can-trump-go/?hpid=hp_no-name_opinion-card-b%3Ahomepage%2Fstory&utm_term=.df835c980baf