IT’S HARD TO SAY, as a crisis properly handled could turn things around. But right at the moment, it appears President Trump’s budget and backing for the GOP ACA replacement is not playing well to the crowd, according to Gallup:
This looks to be his low point so far, and tomorrow’s update should be fascinating, although honestly his approval rating (37% in this chart, with a disapproval rating of 58%) will probably move back up as the vagaries of polling and regression to the mean takeover. But I think we’re seeing the results of being an autocratic business owner thrust into a government office which attracts constant attention for its occupants’ behavior – and their attention to liberal democracy ideals. He admits his policies will hurt his own supporters; he wants to inflate the military even more; and while some of his more outré promises continue to have his active support, many others have fallen by the wayside. His New York mannerisms may have played well with those who needed to hear that someone sympathized with their economic plight, and would promise to do something for them, there may now be a dawning recognition that they are little more than a convenient trampoline. As a private business owner, Trump only rarely had to worry about the facts, as they only assumed importance in courts of law who insisted he pay attention to those facts. But in the public sector, an insistent free press makes facts and truth more important, more relevant – if not to him, then to those who are affected by his actions, and can return the favor. I wonder if his support for Speaker Ryan’s ridiculous replacement for the ACA was, in part, a political quid pro quo to not be impeached.
My question remains the same – will he resign, or will he be thrust out forcibly by Congress?
