Even the polling firm run by Scott Rasmussen, who’s been accused of statistical bias on behalf of Republicans, has Donald Trump’s approval rating under 40 percent. Barack Obama never went that low. The latest figures for Trump include 23 percent who strongly approve of Trump’s performance and 49 percent who strongly disapprove. A new poll also surveys who’s to blame finding that 55% of Likely U.S. Voters think Trump is his own worst political enemy. In distant second is the national media, cited as his worst enemy by 25%.
As expected, Trump is burning through staff faster than a brush fire. Expect more. There’s a legitimate burnout factor in government. Then there’s the Trump burnout factor for a variety of reasons. It happens when a president tries to be king. And chief strategist. And chief of staff. And chief Tweeter. And chief this and that. Then he throws staff under the bus for things he caused.
I worked for Trump for nearly four years. It had its moments, but for the most part the relationship was sanguine. His approach can work out in business. It does not in government. He has not delivered on what he framed as three slam-dunk promises: the wall, healthcare and immigration. There’s still time, but it may come down to small victories that he rhetorically declares as major.
John Kelly is now chief of staff. Trump likes generals. They are chain-of-command oriented. They listen to orders. They also give them to underlings. Kelly will have some latitude … for a while anyway. Former National Security adviser Michael Flynn was a general too. We saw what happened there. Kelly’s patience level will be tested.
Barring a transformational event such as war with North Korea, what you see is what you get with this president, a cacophony of chaos, confusion and cackling. He’s rationalized that people knew what they were getting. A lot of this stuff would be background noise if the self-proclaimed dealmaker got stuff done.
The ominous white whale for Trump? At some point special counsel Robert Mueller’s gonna charge people. Liars tend to surface in this kind of process even in the defensive attempt to protect someone, if not themselves.
From Rasmussen:
President Trump has met the enemy, and it’s himself.
A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone and online survey finds that 55% of Likely U.S. Voters think Trump is his own worst political enemy. In distant second is the national media, cited as his worst enemy by 25%.
Just 14% believe Democrats are the Republican president’s chief political foe, while five percent (5%) blame other Republicans. (To see survey question wording, click here.)
See full report here.
That great American philosopher, Pogo, famous quotation is “We have met the enemy and he is us.”
My famous quote is “We have met the enemy and he be we!”
Or “There is no job too simple that we can not screw up!”
I have to think a few of the people that voted for Trump in Toad Suck, Alabama, and Horse Apple, Kentucky, are saying “We done been hornswoggled by that varmint…”
Trump swindled Bridgeport with his casino games.And there is a long,long list of people who Trump has swindled. Anyone and everyone who looked at the NYC business scene knew that Trump was regarded as a joke. Well,the joke is on us now.
There was controversy when Hillary Clinton called Trump’s supporters a “basket of deplorables.” Guess what… She was right!
Maybe Trump has an administration job for Joe…
Trump will be a civilian (possibly looking at a striped wardrobe) and the US will be looking forward to it first special election in its history by Halloween… Everything will move quickly after General Kelly realizes that he is dealing with an uncontrollable, borderline personality individual and resigns after requesting that Trump resign… Give this scenario about 6 weeks… Trump will finally resign when the stress of alienation, even from his family, makes him realize that America just doesn’t want to be great again… (His son-in-law lit the fuse on the family powder-keg by publicly describing the “perfect” campaign as chaotic… Now we know that Donald can’t countenance something with his brand on it a less than perfect…) (If he doesn’t resign after
Kelly resigns, he’ll be confronted, in his bunker, by his family and remaining advisors demanding that he pardon all of them and resign, after which he will resign… Either way, he’ll probably issue mass pardons before he resigns and is given a pardon (along with VP Pence) by interim president Ryan who will call for a special election when he realizes that he simply doesn’t have the support or wherewithal to impose long-term order in the Executive branch…
Trump will go down as the president that launched the much-needed, politically-renewing revolution determined as necessary for the long-term survival of any democracy by Thomas Jefferson…
Now, that was fun (in the context of so much American political sadness in these dark — but inevitable — days in American democracy…)! Truly, we must view all of this history-making political madness as an opportunity to learn about and play into the miracle of American democracy… There has never been a more chaotic time in American political history – with the possibility of the Constitutional Convention in 1787… It is really sad on one level, but stimulating and interesting on another, as we watch Jefferson’s prediction of the necessity of periodic political revolution playing itself out in real time… It might even be enough to lift the curtain of depression and drabness from Connecticut/Bridgeport life and give us hope that change in our state and city might actually be induced by the national political momentum…
Jeff, you’ve been reading too much ‘In These Times’ and watching CNN.