If it’s not already obvious by now, President Trump’s tangled, mangled and bungled response to Charlottesville reminds us that his is a presidency run on gut and instinct and fealty to his base. There’s no desire to reach out – or reach across – or unite. It’s to incite and excite those who already support him. That strategy won him the White House – despite the consensus conventional wisdom that it wouldn’t. As such, he’s not particularly interested in listening to those who tell him that this strategy doesn’t work so well for governing.
It is become clear, however, that even that base is getting weary and wary of his approach. CONT.
Amy Walter, Cook Political Report