signalmankenneth
Verified User
The worm is beginning to turn on President Trump.
His dishonest blathering notwithstanding, Trump never earned particularly strong support from American voters.
Though he frequently praises himself for winning the popular vote, Trump’s victory was thin by historical standards. Fewer than 50 percent of voters cast their ballots for him while his margin over Vice President Harris was less than 1.5 percentage points.
Only nine presidential elections in our history were won by lesser margins. Nineteen presidential elections yielded true landslide victories of 10 points or more. Trump’s advantage was nowhere close to that.
And he’s still not particularly popular. Using Gallup data, on average, going back to President Eisenhower, presidents earned approval from 60 percent of Americans in their first February. Trump’s February approval rating — 45 percent — is the lowest on record, except for his rating in February of his first term.
More important, the president’s approval rating is deteriorating. Days after his inauguration, the number approving of his performance was 8.5 points higher than those disapproving, according to the RealClearPolitics’ aggregation of all the polling. By Monday, that advantage had narrowed to just 1 point.
538.com, another aggregator using somewhat different methodology, posted nearly identical numbers — an 8.2-point approval margin just after Trump took office, which declined to 7/10ths of a point Monday.
Make no mistake, two things are true at the same time. A narrow plurality approves of Trump’s performance. But that plurality is shrinking as fewer voters approve and more disapprove.
A president’s approval rating is significant because it is one of the most important weapons he wields in political combat. A president’s political power is directly proportional to his approval rating. Members of Congress fear crossing a president with 70 percent approval and fear being seen with a president sporting a 30 percent approval rating.
Trump’s power will diminish less as his numbers fall because he remains extraordinarily popular with Republicans and, for several reasons, Republican legislators mostly don’t worry about general elections, only primaries against fellow Republicans.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/opinion-trump-downward-trajectory-171500585.html
His dishonest blathering notwithstanding, Trump never earned particularly strong support from American voters.
Though he frequently praises himself for winning the popular vote, Trump’s victory was thin by historical standards. Fewer than 50 percent of voters cast their ballots for him while his margin over Vice President Harris was less than 1.5 percentage points.
Only nine presidential elections in our history were won by lesser margins. Nineteen presidential elections yielded true landslide victories of 10 points or more. Trump’s advantage was nowhere close to that.
And he’s still not particularly popular. Using Gallup data, on average, going back to President Eisenhower, presidents earned approval from 60 percent of Americans in their first February. Trump’s February approval rating — 45 percent — is the lowest on record, except for his rating in February of his first term.
More important, the president’s approval rating is deteriorating. Days after his inauguration, the number approving of his performance was 8.5 points higher than those disapproving, according to the RealClearPolitics’ aggregation of all the polling. By Monday, that advantage had narrowed to just 1 point.
538.com, another aggregator using somewhat different methodology, posted nearly identical numbers — an 8.2-point approval margin just after Trump took office, which declined to 7/10ths of a point Monday.
Make no mistake, two things are true at the same time. A narrow plurality approves of Trump’s performance. But that plurality is shrinking as fewer voters approve and more disapprove.
A president’s approval rating is significant because it is one of the most important weapons he wields in political combat. A president’s political power is directly proportional to his approval rating. Members of Congress fear crossing a president with 70 percent approval and fear being seen with a president sporting a 30 percent approval rating.
Trump’s power will diminish less as his numbers fall because he remains extraordinarily popular with Republicans and, for several reasons, Republican legislators mostly don’t worry about general elections, only primaries against fellow Republicans.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/opinion-trump-downward-trajectory-171500585.html
