I think that America is going to get a valuable lesson the hard way in the school of hard knocks, “a dear school but a fool can learn in no other.” This lesson has been foreshadowed for quite some time. The sage political journalist H.L. Mencken said that, “Democracy is the theory that the common people know what they want and deserve to get it, good and hard.” America is going to find out what they bought in a second Trump term. He’s going to break America and we, collectively, now have to pay for it and own it. Recent poll numbers are described as “brutal” and “nightmare.”
There are lots of indicators that voters are souring on Trump’s chaotic regime. But I wanted to share the new numbers from Navigator Research that came out this morning. The key takeaways:
- After last week’s tariff announcement, Trump’s economic approval has dropped precipitously, now tied for his worst ever in Navigator tracking since 2018. His overall job approval rating has also declined.
- “The broad tariffs last week brought this feeling to a boiling point, with 58% of Americans saying Trump’s policies are contributing to high costs and 72% saying they are contributing to volatility in the stock market.
- Nearly three-quarters (72 percent) say Trump’s policies are contributing to volatility in the stock market. Most Americans’ exposure to the stock market is through retirement accounts, where nearly 50% of Americans have long-term savings. This sentiment is shared by a majority of Americans across party lines – including 60 percent of Independents and 62 percent of Republicans.
Want more #s?
Friday brought a fresh signal that consumers were queasy even before Wednesday’s policy shift. US consumer sentiment tumbled to the second-lowest level on record in a University of Michigan survey, as inflation expectations soared to multi-decades highs. That result was based on interviews from March 25 through April 8, before the change in tack on tariffs.
**
Finally, here are the key takeaways from new polling from Third Way, a centrist Democratic think tank:
- Voters’ pessimism is increasing, particularly on the economy.
- Roughly 14% of 2024 Trump voters are soft and movable.
- Trump is most vulnerable on breaking his promises on costs and the state of the economy for the middle class.
- A defense of government programs must focus on specific, popular items like cancer research, veterans’ programs, Social Security benefits and staffing, nuclear energy safety, and other tangibles.
- Elon Musk is box office poison.
- Digital privacy and giving Musk and DOGE access to government data is a possible sleeper issue.
What would be laughable if it wasn’t so tragic, is that all of Trump’s sycophants surround him and laud him for his “massive” win and “historic” victory in 2024 — and what is massive and historic, in truth, is this level of criticism of any administration this early in. Or, at any time, but particularly this early in. What is he going to say next year when he does a real State Of The Union address? “We caused Americans to turn out into the streets with Hands Off signs in record numbers?” “We set the House and Senate up for massive losses?”
We won’t know until we get there but this is a pathetic return on investment in less than 90 days. Trump had no plan. Not with respect to ending the Ukraine war or with respect to anything. He only wanted to win to stay out of prison. And now that he’s got that accomplished, he is literally flying blind on impulse and creating chaos.
And again I call your attention to Elon. Where’s Elon? What’s Elon doing? Because there is another example of spectacular flame out. He was the biggest thing since sliced bread, waving his chainsaw at CPAC, the man who was going to reinvent government and save us trillions; and since the judicial election loss in Wisconsin: zip. Off radar. The invisible man.
Stay tuned. Trump’s approval isn’t going up any time soon. The next phase in this will be to see how vicious the 2026 midterms get and who’s left standing in the GOP. Right now John Cornyn is the poster child for a bloody midterm but again bear in mind, this new administration isn’t even 90 days old. A lot more can and will happen.
***********
Zoomers, thanks to those of you who have generously contributed. If you’re able to thrown in a little coin, it will go to pay overhead. People are depressed and avoiding politics, but alas, the bills keep coming all the same. Thank you for coming here to read, most of all. Ursula
I don’t honestly know if John Cornyn is vulnerable, but his opponent-Ken Paxton is completely tRump like. John Cornyn at least has a decent reputation for not being a scumbag. We will see how this one goes.
That said, the names and ideas in the headlines are centred on Rs, MAGA and T, however incoherently. Where are the banners demonstrating opposition and coherency? Who is out there waving them? Yes, there are judges standing for the Constitution but their role is not to paint the alternative possibilities and lead towards them. Hands Off is indicative of a groundswell but it needs a figurehead/leader to give it direction. We see the enthusiasm generated by AOC (a Democrat but seemingly a bit off, seemingly regarded as not quite one of “us”/mainstream (and for whom I have much time) and Sanders (not a Democrat). I see them as articulating much of what is needed but who, more in the “mainstream”, will steer the donkey towards their ideas
Some less than astute readers may be confused by your seemingly backward use of red and blue in the graph. Other colors would have been better.
Can you imagine the amount of daily screaming baby huey would be doing right now if Biden were doing the things Trump has done to tank the stock market, etc.? YIKES!!!!
FOTUS
IMG_5112