How to Capitalize on Trump's Poor Polling

We Need A Little Counterintuitive Thinking

Earlier this month I reported on UMass-Amherst’s national survey showing that, while President Donald Trump’s support was well below 50%, his base wasn’t cracking. The faithful will remain at the altar.

The strategy now is not to pour more (metaphorical) fire onto Trump himself. He carries around a can of gasoline and a Zippo lighter. He’ll provide all the light and heat we need.

As I wrote about tariffs, for a decade, swing-district Republican politicians have been stuck between Trump’s immovable object and the reality of their voters. If a GOP member of the US House is ‘vulnerable,’ now is the time to attack. Leave them, once again, in the untenable position of having to choose between Dear Leader and keeping their jobs.

The key to this strategy is counterintuitive: Leave Trump out.

Read that again: When deploying negative messaging against a weak Republican, don’t give them Trump to hide behind. Don’t give their voters the chance to say, “well they’ve always hated him, that’s why they’re attacking him now.”

Neither American political party is above water with voters.

Given that Congress is currently sporting a 64% disapproval rating, they’re 30 points underwater, voters are already telling us they’re still fickle with Capitol Hill no matter who’s in charge. When we add the natural weight (and there’s a lot of it) to Trump’s mere presence, it is possible to push Republicans’ numbers down further.

The time to begin this work is NOW.

The dominant school of thought within the Democratic Party is that early political money doesn’t work.

Horse hockey.