BTRTN: Trump Leading From (His) Behind
Born To Run The Numbers takes a close look at the numbers that track America's reaction to Trump's, uh, "leadership" during the coronavirus crisis. The verdict: he's leading from his behind:
http://www.borntorunthenumbers.com/2020/04/btrtn-trump-leading-from-his-behind.html
Excerpts: "Donald Trump, in the coronavirus crisis, is certainly not 'leading from behind' in the Obama/Mandela sense. Not at all. In his endless quest to claim credit and avoid blame in a highly uncertain and volatile crisis, he has veered between claiming absolute authority to ducking the powers he could rightfully wield. He is not looking to 'take the front line where there is danger.' Indeed, he has truly attempted to do just the opposite – stick the governors with making the hard decisions on when to close down their states, while trying initially to take full credit for the presumably welcome decision to open them up again...
"But the court of public opinion is never straightforward. Nothing in Trump’s entire presidency has truly broken through to either convince his followers that he is wrong, nor his opponents that he is right. Is there any sign of that now, now that the stakes are so high, the life and death nature of the battle so clear, now that this scourge has affected nearly everyone in the entire country in meaningful way? Let’s take a look at the numbers. The short answer is this: he’s holding up on the broadest of gauges, not flying as he should be in a time of crisis (plenty of precedents) but holding ground. But…there are clear cracks in the wall of support...
"Trump has not managed to get America behind him on the crisis. And while he has held his ground (albeit, in the unenviable 45% range) on overall job approval, his handling of the coronavirus crisis reveals a number of crucial areas in handling the crisis where he has sunk below the 40% “floor” that has characterized his presidency..."
