President Trump’s message: Vote for me, or else
During a December 2015 problems for the president on debate among Republican presidential the second question. The president’s candidates in Las Vegas, favorite network (until former Florida governor Jeb recently when he began criticizing Bush said to Donald Trump: the goose laying golden eggs “You can’t insult your way to the for him) shows his disapproval presidency.” rating has soared to 56%, one Never mind. point lower than his record high The question for next year’s in October 2017. His disapproval election is whether the insulterin-chief numbers ticked up sharply last can use the same tactic month, rising 5%. to win a second term. It depends More troubling is the drop in on two other questions: Commentary approval of the president’s job who the Democrats end up performance from 46% last nominating and whether voters see that month, to 43% now. His record low approval person as too far left (as the leading candidates rating was 38%, also in October unarguably are) and two, whether 2017. enough voters who held their noses and Other statistics from the Fox poll that voted for Trump last time will be sufficiently should concern the White House: a record turned off that they will stay home. number of men (53%) disapprove of the
Yes, early polls are usually meaningless, president. These include 46% of white but there are warning signs that should be men and 64% of crucial independent voters. heeded. The poll has a margin of error of plus
A new Fox News poll suggests potential or minus 3%.
None of this seems to bother the president, who engaged in more insults in a speech last week in Manchester, N.H., a state he lost to Hillary Clinton by just .37% in 2016.
In that speech Mr. Trump took a “vote for me, even if you hate me, because the Democrats will ruin the economy” approach. While that may be true, there are intangibles that also influence voters, including how America positions itself before the world. There is no question that President Trump is pushing back against liberalism, socialism and the notion that Democrats must always set the agenda and Republicans are left to respond to it. That is what has solidified uncritical support among his base.
But — and this is a very big but — there is also the issue of deportment, something taught at home and in school when I was a child. Manners, character, honesty, consistency and how others see you were also traits thought important to instill in young men and women.
Is the economy all that matters? Have we become that cynical? Perhaps some of his uncritical evangelical supporters might point to a verse which says, “The love of money is the root of all evil.” (1 Timothy 6:10), or “Whoever loves money never has enough.” (Ecclesiastes 5:10).
We are, or ought to be, more than what we possess. We are not in a civil war, despite what one might see, read or hear.
Before the Civil War started, our 16th president said something our 45th president might wish to consider: “We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory will swell when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature.”
The president might win a second term, insulting along the way, but will it have been worth it if he continues to appeal to the worst devils that are also in our nature?