Who Benefits From Our Hopeless Political Gridlock?
Earlier this week POLITICO/Morning Consult released a poll including President Trump’s approval ratings, how he polled against a generic Democrat, and how he polled in a head-to-head matchup against Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts. The upshot, just four weeks into his presidency, Donald Trump trails a generic Democrat by almost ten points and is historically unlikable but somehow beats Warren head-to-head by six points.
What does this mean? Well, while Trump seems to have lost the confidence of independents in record time, he retains the support of almost 9 out of 10 Republicans. On the other hand, barely more than 33 percent of the people polled said they would vote for him in 2020. Since around 30 percent of registered voters are Republicans, that means besides partisans, he’s in trouble, with only 71 percent of his voters from last November saying they would vote for him again. If you subtract Democrats and Independents from his electoral coalition, things get really ugly really quick, especially if you’re a Republican in Congress looking at reelection.
So, if case you live under a rock, Trump’s first few weeks have been a total mess. Whether you read the National Review, The New York Times or Daily Kos, almost every political observer agrees on that. And at least once a week, his administration has shot itself in the foot more than once by dint of sheer incompetence.
Unlike, say, when George W. Bush and Barack Obama took office and each brought in dozens of experienced hands to help them govern, Trump still mostly relies on his inner circle with little experience in DC. Sure, Republicans in Congress have been saying the right things, but it’s clear one hand isn’t talking to the other.
Small wonder then that it’s been a rough first four weeks for the Trump administration, and his deeply bizarre press conference this week reiterated the fact that his team is in desperate need of some experienced hands to help steer the ship away from this fly by the eat of our pants style of governing. That said, nothing that has occurred thus far is on the order of magnitude of the more epic screwups from the past several presidencies (The Vietnam War, Iran Contra, Watergate, and the Iraq War come to find) which is why it’s almost surprising that the same POLITICO poll ranks Trump as the worst president since World War II with 26 percent of the vote.
Really? After four weeks, he’s the worst? Well, I think I know what’s going on here. And that’s why I’m less surprised that, given the political climate of the past ten years, President Obama comes in second place just a solitary percentage point behind Trump as the second worst president over the same time period.
But, see, this is a problem. No matter how bad or good of a job you think Trump has done so far, arguing that he’s the worst in 70 years after just four weeks in office seems awfully premature. Sure, he could certainly get there with all of the time he has left in office, but he’s barely done anything concrete so far! And what he has done has been invalidated by the courts or otherwise neutralized. There’s nothing on the magnitude of getting us embroiled in an endless war, watching a once in a century recession begin on your watch or allowing a terrible terrorist attack to happen (see a pattern here?).
But it all makes sense when you realize that Obama is coming in second place by a hair. Spoiler alert, neither Obama nor Trump have done worse things for the nation and the presidency than Nixon, who left office in disgrace. To say otherwise is ridiculous.
So what does any of this mean? Well, given that almost half of the people surveyed have no opinion on Trump senior advisor Steve Bannon, it means that our electorate is both wildly uninformed and as partisan as ever.
If you’re a Democrat you think that Donald Trump is the worst ever. If you’re a Republican you think Obama destroyed the country. And if you’re in the news and media industry, you think this is a great moment to drive clicks and views and ratings by hyping up every possible story beyond reason. Outrage sells.
The impact, besides Facebook becoming a cesspool of political bickering and misinformation, is that our politics is becoming hopelessly divisive, making common ground nonexistent, honest debate impossible, and actual progress close to impossible. Unless something dramatic happens, this pattern with repeat itself each election cycle, causing people to remain angry, disillusioned and ever more fiercely partisan.
It’s a grim state of affairs, and it’s hard to figure out who it actually benefits other than the companies and corporations that make money covering it and the politicians with safe seats who raise money by capitalizing on every fresh new injustice or outrage while not actually doing anything to change it.
So, I’m not saying you shouldn’t be concerned about the plight of our country. Obviously you should be, but what I am saying is that political engagement is about building coalitions and connections in your community, not yelling at people online. Most of us have far more in common than we don’t, and no matter what’s happening in DC, it’s important to remember that. Hating your neighbors who may have voted for Trump or Hillary doesn’t actually help anyone. Talking to them might.
Our fixation on National politics and the overwhelming attention it gets means that local issues like school board elections and town ordinances get short shrift, and that’s bad for everyone.
Looking to do your part? One way to get involved is to read the Indivisible Guide, which is written by former congressional staffers and is loaded with best practices for making Congress listen. Or follow this publication, connect with us on Twitter, and join us on Facebook.
