Donald Trump’s presidency is barely four months old, but the events of the past week or so have seemed so explosively damaging to his position in the eyes of many observers that I spent part of my Tuesday morning on the phone with an Ottawa radio show explaining to Canadian […] Read more »
Even The Biggest Scandals Can’t Kill Party Loyalty
There have been lots of questions, especially among liberals, about when congressional Republicans might turn on President Trump, particularly in the wake of his controversial firing of FBI Director James Comey and the reports late Monday that he compromised classified information. The assumption behind these questions is that at a […] Read more »
Comey Firing Nets More Negative Reaction Than 1993 FBI Firing
President Donald Trump’s decision to relieve FBI Director James Comey of his duties this week drew more disapproval than approval from Americans. Forty-six percent disapprove of the firing, 39% approve and the remaining 15% express no opinion. That reaction is far more negative than the one Americans had the last […] Read more »
Trump’s Job Approval in First Quarter Lowest by 14 Points
Donald Trump averaged 41% job approval during his first quarter as president, 14 percentage points lower than any other president in Gallup’s polling history. Bill Clinton had the previous low mark of 55%. The average first-quarter rating among post-World War II presidents elected to their first term is 61%, with […] Read more »
Why presidential candidates (like Trump) campaign as isolationists but (like Trump) govern as hawks
When President Trump bombed Syria last week, many observers were surprised. Trump campaigned on an isolationist “America First” foreign policy. In a series of now-famous tweets, Trump had specifically warned President Barack Obama against military intervention in Syria. … And yet before his first three months were up, he did […] Read more »
Will Trump Triangulate?
… Triangulation refers to the strategy Bill Clinton used to revive his presidency after the backlash against his own chaotic first two years in office let Republicans seize the House and Senate in 1994. Guided by Dick Morris, a mercurial political strategist, Clinton positioned himself as the apex of a […] Read more »