Trumpsters really do believe in magic But shouting slogans doesn’t add up to election wins
President Trump’s biggest problem isn’t his mouth — it’s his math.
The latest polls all confirm that Republicans love the guy. A new Gallup poll finds that 61 percent of Republicans are satisfied with the direction of the country — the highest number among Republicans since 2007.
And the CBS News/YouGov Nation Tracker poll — which is tracking the views of a group of about 2,000 voters over time — finds that Trump’s “true believers” are having a great time cheering him on. CBS News reports that “Mr. Trump’s supporters back him more for ‘being a different kind of president’ and for ‘taking on the establishment’ than for cutting their taxes.”
Not only that, but “Three in four supporters like the way he conducts himself personally.” About 80 percent of Trump’s base still sees him — payoffs to porn stars and all — as a “role model.”
You think “s---hole countries” and “bleeding badly from a face lift” are a bug in the Trump presidency? His fans think they’re a feature.
As a result, if you listen to talk radio or watch Fox News, you’ll hear plenty of Republicans more than happy to debate whether he said “s---hole” vs. “s---house,” and how the president is just saying what everyone else is saying about immigration from Africa or Haiti.
Does this make Trump fans racists? Does it make them bigots? That’s debatable.
But one thing is beyond debate. They’re wrong. At least, about the politics.
For while die-hard Donald fans are cheering, they only represent 18 percent of the population. The CBS News/YouGov poll breaks Americans down into:
• “Believers”
• “Conditionals” (I like Trump when he promotes my policies)
• “Curious” (Leaning against Trump but open to persuasion), and
• “Resisters” (If they backed up their cars over Trump, they’d back up again to make sure they hit him)
And the number of “Resisters” has edged up to 41 percent — more than twice the number of “Believers.” Yes, the one voter out of five who loves Trump really loves him and revels in the chaos he creates. But 66 percent of all Americans dislike Trump personally — and 69 percent of all voters tell Gallup they’re dissatisfied with the direction of the country.
Yes, Trump supporters love his attacks on Hillary and want him to make investigating her a top 2018 priority. But the vast majority of Americans don’t agree or don’t care.
Know what you call a party that has the hard-core, passionate commitment of 20 percent of the country? “Losers.”
Even with the economy rockin’ and the stock market rollin’ and a plurality of voters saying the economy is in better shape, President Trump and his party can’t poll above 40 percent on a good day. How is this #Winning?
Trump supporters are relying on “Trump magic” to deliver in November. They believe that the Wizard of Trump Tower has repealed the rules of polling and the laws of political gravity.
“Who knows what 2018 will be like? Nobody called 2016, right?” U.S. Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) told The Washington Post. “Everybody thought Hillary Clinton was going to get elected and that Chuck Schumer was going to be the majority leader.”
And yes, if the era of Trump has taught us anything it’s that “stuff happens.”
But it would take a heaping pile of ahistorical “stuff” for the GOP to pull out an upset win.
It would be easier to believe in a magical Trump miracle if more Republicans were facing the facts on the ground honestly and realistically. Simply waving your MAGA hat and shouting “Fake media!” and “The polls are wrong” isn’t a plan. It’s just political selfgratification.