Trump's approval ratings are in the basement: Kennedy
It's hard to believe the 2016 presidential election was one year ago today, because no one will let it go. The president is constantly calling out his former opponent in interviews and on Twitter, mostly because Hillary Clinton doesn't have the grace and wherewithal to get off the stage.
The president promised an awful lot of winning, and I believe he also said we'd have group nausea from the collective winning -- but so far it's a mixed sick bag.
The stock market is doing well, but it's been ticking up for a while. The president can take credit for enthusiasm and the promise of economic growth and loose capital when his tax plan goes through.
But Congress is still pretty gummed up, and they can no doubt screw the pooch on the tax gimme pretty easily. The question is, if the market tanks, will President Trump conversely take responsibility?
His approval rating is in the basement. It's at a flaccid 38%, which never seems to rattle his enthusiastic base. They point to the success of his deregulatory executive orders and low unemployment, and if he can get the government out of the way on confining environmental and banking issues, and if wages go skyward, even low approval numbers won't keep him from re-election.
However, if Congress blows it on taxes, if North Korea explodes into even a minor hot war and if he continues with the temperamental unforced errors, he could be in deep political yogurt that could curdle and sour his loyal base. Much remains to be seen with this presidency, and we'll know more by the end of the year if he can pass the still looming, critical tests.
What we do know is he's been busy and has provided plenty of fodder for enemies and adherents. It’s the ones squeezed in the middle who are still undecided and who are very much up for grabs.