His behavior and 2020
By Ed Rogers
September 5 at 3:49 PM
... Trump’s negatives are obvious, and the source of many of his problems comes from his own tweets and insulting behavior. It is safe to say Trump has broken new ground in his ability to offend. It is a habit he cannot tame. And in his eventual opponent’s favor is the apparent law that Trump’s objectionable qualities are the gift that keeps on giving — he renews his negatives daily, sometimes hourly. There is never a chance to forget what you do not like about Trump ...
... Trump won in 2016 by drawing an inside straight. He was not elected in a landslide but quite the opposite. Narrow wins in states such as Michigan and Wisconsin made the difference for his campaign. Today, at least anecdotally, it is hard to see where Trump has built any new support. In fact, having spent the past holiday weekend in the Florida Panhandle, I saw plenty of instances where Trump has lost support, and there has even grown a social stigma associated with being a Trump supporter where there was not before. When one talks to Trump supporters, there is almost always a caveat, a sheepish grin or just the “can’t believe it’s come to this” shake of the head. There is rarely anything resembling enthusiasm ...
... can Trump run a campaign in which he does not remind voters every day what it is about him that they find lacking at best or destructive and offensive at worst? His victory in 2016 had more to do with Hillary Clinton underperforming what should be expected of an average Democrat candidate than it did any magic Trump brought to the race. Only a fatally flawed candidate next year could repeat that set of circumstances. On the flip side, if the Trump-Pence strategy for 2020 is just more of the same, that augurs well for a solid Democratic opponent who can mute the left’s calls for socialism and dampen liberals’ frightening plans for our society and economy. Maybe then Trump would beat himself.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/09/05/will-trumps-behavior-decide-election/
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