Political Junkie

The media have obsessed about a new Morning Consult poll that found President Trump at the lowest net approval rating of his presidency.   Following the release of the Mueller report, the weekly tracking poll pegged President Trump’s net approval of -18 percent; even lower than his previous low points, which followed his Charlottesville comments and the partial government shutdown.   The Morning Consult poll found that 39 percent of voters approve of President Trump’s performance while 57 percent disapprove.   Let’s take a look at the polls of a roughly comparable time in American history.   In February 1991, Gallup pegged President George H.W. Bush’s approval rating at 89 percent.   Had a presidential election occurred that month, Bush likely would have destroyed his Democratic rival in the biggest electoral landslide in American history.   The low point of George H.W. Bush’s presidency, in terms of approval rating, came much closer to the actual P...

Like it or not, the Democrats head into the 2020 Presidential Election with a head start in the Electoral College.   They can count on California, New York, Illinois, New Jersey, Washington, Massachusetts, Maryland, Connecticut, Oregon, Hawaii, Rhode Island, Delaware, Vermont, and the District of Columbia to vote for the Democratic Presidential candidate.   All of those states’ electoral votes add up to 182; more than half to the 270 needed to clinch the presidency.   On the other hand, Republicans can only count on Tennessee, Indiana, Missouri, Alabama, South Carolina, Kentucky, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Kansas, Mississippi, Utah, Nebraska, West Virginia, Idaho, Alaska, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wyoming.   The electoral votes of those states only add up to 126.   In other words, Democrats don’t have to work as hard to get to 270.   Now for a little analogy to help make this point.   Republicans have to take the stairs when trying...

While more than two years have passed since the 2016 Presidential Election, some self-professed Republicans and conservatives still have not come around to President Trump.   During my most recent appearance on the “Conservative Underground” podcast, I attempted to categorize Trump opponents into two distinct groups: those who support conservative principles but oppose and/or criticize President Trump because of his style and personality and those who have had more in common with liberals all along.   Upon closer examination, I have realized that the Trump opponents actually fall into more than two categories, some of which may overlap at times. Category 1: The Style Over Substance Crowd President Trump’s “style” appears to cause heartburn to some on the right, even if they generally agree with the substance of his administration; including the tax cuts, conservative judges, and the more conservative stance on immigration.   However, many of these folks fe...

For the third year in a row, President Trump will not attend the White House Correspondents’ Dinner.   Instead, he will hold a rally in Green Bay, Wisconsin.   Last year, he held a rally in Washington Township, Michigan as the Correspondents’ Dinner took place in Washington, D.C.   President Trump spent the first White House Correspondents’ Dinner of his presidency in the state of Pennsylvania. Given a choice between spending the evening with people who hate him (the press) and the people who love him, it makes obvious sense why he would choose to spend time with the latter.   He already spends plenty of time with those who hate him by answering impromptu questions as he leaves the White House and he has to spend time with those who hate him every time he tries to negotiate with Congressional Democrats.   He could definitely use a break.   The White House will have representatives on hand at the Correspondents’ Dinner.   Last year, White Hou...

At the end of basically every episode of the show “Real Time With Bill Maher,” the eponymous host ends with a satirical segment called “new rules,” where he lists some sarcastic ideas which more often than not involve trashing Republicans and conservatives.   I know I speak for many when I say that Congress and liberals should start abiding by a new rule: they must live by the policies they created, support, and/or vote for. For Exhibit A in liberal hypocrisy, look no further than the sanctuary city debate.   According to the Center for Immigration Studies , eight states, more than 100 counties, and more than two dozen cities have some form of a sanctuary policy, which may include “laws, ordinances, regulations, resolutions, policies, or other practices that obstruct immigration enforcement and shield criminals from ICE –either by refusing to or prohibiting agencies from complying with ICE detainers, imposing unreasonable conditions on detainer acceptance, denying IC...

Four years ago at this time, exactly three candidates had announced their intention to run for the Republican nomination for President in 2016; Ted Cruz, Rand Paul, and Marco Rubio.   By the time the first debate rolled around in August 2015, that number had risen to 17.   Everyone thought that the Republicans would destroy each other in the primary, leaving the unchallenged Hillary Clinton stronger heading into the general election.   As it turns out, Republicans ended up with a presumptive nominee before the Democrats did.   President Trump clinched the Republican nomination on May 4, 2016; after his two remaining challengers, Ted Cruz and John Kasich, dropped out.   It took until the summer for Hillary Clinton’s surprisingly strong challenger, Senator Bernie Sanders, to withdraw from the race.   While President Trump had infinitely many more challengers than Clinton, he won more states than his Democratic counterpart.   Fast forward to the...