Polling of the American electorate, regularly conducted
by Quinnipiac University, paints a bleak outlook for our intrepid
Disgustus. The Quinnipiac ( pronounced KWIN-uh-pe-ack) poll is
considered by polling guru and prognosticator Nate Silver as one of
the best, if not the best, in the country. It is not an outlier, but
comes closest of any to an actual snapshot of what the country thinks
and where it stands. Consider the results of a poll taken late last
week and released on March 5:
By a 64 to 24 percent margin, Americans believe that
tRUMP had committed crimes before he became president. Less than
half of Republicans, 48 percent, say that he did not commit any
crimes, but a full 33 percent or 1/3 of people who still identify
themselves with his party say that he did.
The country is about evenly divided, certainly within
the margin of error, concerning the question of whether tRUMP has
committed crimes while in office. A full 45 percent say he has,
while 43 percent say he has not. This is stunning, coming on the
heels of the 'Stormy Daniels' scandal where the president and his
minions are accused of illegally covering up illicit sexual liaisons
by paying hush-money. With more certainly to follow, including
violations of emoluments clause of the Constitution, bribery,
insurance and bank frauds, tax evasion, money laundering,
racketeering, and outright sedition involving hostile foreign actors,
the pending congressional hearings most certainly means that the the
number of Americans totally convinced of his corruption will rise.
The fact that already—over mere peccadilloes—half the country
views him as guilty can only mean that the Constitutional crisis will
soon reach a boiling point.
As it stands right now, Americans do not favor
impeachment by a 59 to 39 percent margin. But Disgustus can take
little comfort here. It is worth noting that nearly 40 percent—at
this stage of the inquiries—do favor at least the beginning of the
impeachment process. And, tRUMP should take note, by nearly the same
margin 58-35 percent, Americans tell the pollsters that Congress
should “do more to investigate 'Michael Cohen's claims about
President Trump's unethical and illegal behavior.'” (1)
So far, according to the poll, voters by a 41-36 percent
margin approve of the way the Democrats are conducting the hearings,
while they disapprove the way the Republicans are conducting
themselves by a whopping 51-25 percentage points. If you are a
Republican, you know its been a tough week when only a quarter of
your base supports your behavior and half the party faithful don't
like what they see.
But what commandeered the headlines was the finding that
more American voters believed Cohen than the president of the United
States. More Americans believed a convicted felon and perjurer than
believe the president of the United States. This despite only a
narrow plurality of only 44 who said that Cohen told the truth to 36
percent telling pollsters that he did not. So less than half of
those polled say Cohen told the truth but, tellingly, 50 percent say
they nevertheless believe Cohen than the mere 35 percent who hold to
their belief in tRUMP.
“The answers to two survey questions deliver a
double-barreled gut punch to the honest question,” said
Tim Malloy, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Poll.
“'When two-thirds of voters think you have committed a
crime in your past life, and almost half of voters say it's a tossup
over whether you committed a crime while in the Oval Office,
confidence in your overall integrity is very shaky,” Malloy added.
'Add to that, Michael Cohen, a known liar headed to the big house,
has more credibility than the leader of the free world.'” (3)
It is this question of credibility that will be the
undoing of our Caesar. As noted in previous posts, the president of
the United States has little constitutional power. Rather, beyond
his roll as commander-in-chief of the armed forces, the power exerted
by the chief magistrate is one of persuasion. He is, and must be, in
the end, a master salesman. As his administration drones on, he is
finding himself more difficult to sell, because he has twitted away
his credibility beginning on his very first days in office over the
nonsense surrounding crowd size at the inauguration.
Credibility, knows every mother's son, is built on a
foundation of honesty. And therein, lies the Achilles heel of this
great and powerful OZ. Approaching three quarters into his term, a
full 55 percent of voters view his job performance negatively,
compared to only 38 percent who still approve of him.
These are numbers he will find difficult to change, and
the polling tells why:
- By a 65-30 percent margin voters say that “Trump is not honest. His worst grade ever on this character trait.” Moreover, “(H)e gets negative grades on other traits:
- 39-58 percent say he has good leadership skills;
- 39-58 percent that he cares about average Americans;
- 22-71 percent that he is a good role model for children.
Trump
gets mixed or negative grades for handling key issues:
- 49 percent approve his handling of the economy and 45 percent disapprove;Negative 38-56 percent for handling foreign policy;
- Negative 40-58 percent for handling immigration issues.(4)
When it comes to diffusing tensions on the Korean
peninsula, our Caesar has done anything but instill confidence into
the American people. In fact, the country narrowly disapproves of
his handling of the situation by a 45-44 margin, but by a 52-42
percentage margin voters “do not have confidence in Trump to
handle the situation.” While by a 54-34 percentage margin
Americans approve of tRUMP's attempts to “create a close
relationship with North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un is a good idea,”
(5) they are divided 42-42 percent as to whether it has been a
success. This before he returned from Hanoi empty-handed with
reports that the North Koreans have begun work on restoring a missile launching site.
Things are, indeed, bleak as this maladministration
careens out of control. At no time, including the run-up to the
election, has our Caesar Disgustus polled above 50 percent of the
electorate. He has always tread, in a word, “under water”.
Comparisons have been made to other presidents and other
administrations who have overcome such overall deficits and won
re-election but those men had polled, at sometime in their
presidencies a clear majority of respondents. More importantly, they
were, on balance, trusted.
Already the party is deserting him. Votes this week on
the declaration of emergency on the Southern Border have already
gained the disapproval of the House, with the Republican led Senate
sure to—by albeit a narrow margin—follow. The Congress has
repeatedly voted to impose sanctions on Russian oligarchs and is
threatening and may soon do so with Saudi Arabia as well. There is
growing unrest within the administration over soaring trade
imbalances—now reaching a record 891 billion last year alone, along
with a the federal deficit skyrocketing 77 percent over the year
before. Conservatives are clinging to tRUMP but are finding that
embracing this skunk is not without consequence.
This, now, is a crippled presidency. Crippled by the
corruption and mendacity of a vile and corrupt creature who has
squandered whatever good faith he had by twitting away his
credibility. Former presidents would rise in popularity and yet go
down to defeat. They could even, as the phrase goes, experience a
'dead cat' bounce, as in George H.W. Bush's soaring popularity of
near 90 percent in the wake of the Gulf War. A popularity, it
transpired, a mile wide and an inch thick. An approval that quickly
evaporated. Our erstwhile Caesar hasn't even given us that, for this
cat don't bounce. He just lays there stinking up the
Executive Mansion awaiting to be buried in the dust bin of history.
In the meantime, the country reels from the stench as the Democrats form a circular firing squad.
“An Br'er Putin, he jus' laugh and laugh”
Impeach and Imprison.
___________
- Ibid.
- Ibid
- Ibid
- Ibid. 1120 voters were polled with the poll having a margin of error of +/- 3.4 percentage points.
Trump's decision to try to create a close relationship with North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un is a good idea, voters say 54 - 34 percent.
Voters are divided 42 - 42 percent on whether the president's meetings with Kim Jong- Un have been a success or a failure.
From March 1 - 4, Quinnipiac University surveyed 1,120 voters nationwide with a margin of error of +/- 3.4 percentage points, including the design effect.
The Quinnipiac University Poll, directed by Douglas Schwartz, Ph.D., conducts gold standard surveys using random digit dialing with live interviewers calling landlines and cell phones. The Quinnipiac University Poll conducts nationwide surveys and polls in more than a dozen states on national and statewide elections, as well as public policy issues.
Visit poll.qu.edu or www.facebook.com/quinnipiacpoll
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