3 possibilities: 1) Lag; It’s been a month. 2) The GOP has optimized their issue profile such that on the majority of their issues they are extremely unpopular but with low salience (e.g. 1/6 pardons) & they retain a handful of issues where they have a popular edge, which are all high salience. - ThreadSky

erichdelang.bsky.social • 2 days ago

3 possibilities:

1) Lag; It’s been a month.

2) The GOP has optimized their issue profile such that on the majority of their issues they are extremely unpopular but with low salience (e.g. 1/6 pardons) & they retain a handful of issues where they have a popular edge, which are all high salience.

Reposted from Radley Balko

Americans oppose just about everything Trump has done so far. And yet his approval rating remains historically high (for him).

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erichdelang.bsky.social•2 days ago

3) The existence of the Fox News Cinematic Universe has destroyed the thermostatic response of public opinion to policy.

Those first two possibilities are navigable with regular politics, though it’s unclear whether the Dems are up to it.

The third one is a BSOD for American democracy.

erichdelang.bsky.social•2 days ago

If we get into a scenario where no matter what happens the 40% of Americans plugged into the FNCU either don’t believe it or decide some FNCU scapegoat is *really* to blame, then normal politics will be ineffective and any Reconstruction will require an unrecognizably revised 1st amendment.

teslaseppanen.bsky.social•2 days ago

People have suggested that it's just this particular individual who seems to be experience a disconnect between his actions and his popularity, whereas no-one else could pull that off.

He's so abhorrent to me personally that I'm skeptical, but realize I'm not being objective.

What do you think?

erichdelang.bsky.social•2 days ago

I think (it makes me sick to say) that he is demonstrably one of the most naturally talented politicians of his era. His cultural affinity with his fans is so tight that they map their policy preferences onto him, so he really can be everything to everyone when really he’s just another GOP prez.

erichdelang.bsky.social•2 days ago

Wouldn’t be the first time we’ve seen this - Obama drew in very red conservatives early on (he won Indiana in 2008 - INDIANA!), Reagan was the “Teflon President,” but I do think that the consolidation of the FNCU and the utter failure of traditional media are aggravating factors here.

teslaseppanen.bsky.social•2 days ago

And here I was hoping that the overlap in job descriptions for "politician" and "con man" was less than 100%.

erichdelang.bsky.social•2 days ago

To quote President Andrew Shepherd’s advisor Louis, they drink the sand because they don’t know the difference. The overlap is 100%, which is why a media that in anything other than entirely feckless is such an important element of our system.

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