At The Week Matthew Walther remarks about the growth in Trump’s popular approval:
It’s not surprising that after little more than a year in office many people who voted for a president still support him. But it’s also surprising that a president who has been the object of more negative reporting than any in our history still enjoys something like the same middling base of support he had before taking office. Unless it’s the negative reporting that is the problem, which I suspect is very largely the case. You can only ask adults to participate in the fiction that a retweet of a wrestling GIF is a credible threat of violence against some nerd reporters at a cable station or delight in what you hope will be the failure of American trade policy before they decide to tune you out. Very largely this had already happened by Inauguration Day, but now the work of MSNBC and The New York Times and PolitiFact is complete. Millions of Americans do not know the difference between what is true and what is false and have decided that they do not much care either.
He proposes that journalists alter course from the relentless attacks on Trump and take a different tack:
If Trump argues against free trade, consider the issue on its merits. The idea that liberalizing the production and distribution of goods and services across national borders will automatically enrich everyone — instead of just the already wealthy in rich and poor countries alike — has had its critics on the left and the right for centuries; even President Obama was skeptical of NAFTA during his first Senate campaign and as late as the 2008 election he was telling audiences that it should be renegotiated. When Trump criticizes Amazon for its monopolistic practices, don’t turn it into a tedious finger-wagging exercise in fact-checking (and if you work for a newspaper owned by its founder and CEO, maybe avoid saying anything if you don’t have to); subject the company to the same scrutinty you would reserve for any other giant corporation that treats America’s cities as its fiefdoms and her people as its grateful serfs.
which you might recognize as the approach I’ve been taking here, which some have characterized as “sticking your head in the sand”.
I would say rather that Trump has a floor of approval of around 38% and a ceiling right around where he is now—42%. IMO that’s enough to shield him from impeachment by Republicans but not enough to inoculate him against a continuing onslaught of attacks.
I wouldn’t hold my breath waiting for the journalistic profession to reform itself. They think what they’re doing is working. Look at MSNBC’s ratings!
And that’s the issue, the ratings. “News” is now a commercial and advocacy exercise, not journalism.
BTW – the only head sticking I’d note is faith in Mueller. From the two Boston scandals years ago up to the tactics of today his record is, charitably, blemished. Despite knee jerk praise from some. It would have served the country well to have someone else. But then, he was appointed by Rod Rosenstein (snicker) for reasons that are inexorably becoming evident.
Lets face the facts, if you don’t deliver the well heeled, metropolitan audience the advertisers want, the news site falters, the staff grumbles and nobody will invite you to their party.
Re: Mueller, any one else remember their Fitzmas presents?
Mueller has a pretty good record, and the tactics he is employing now are what one would expect of an investigator, and this is nothing like the leak prone affair lead by Starr.
Agree with you that Trump has a solid base that won’t leave him, and not many new people are joining. If he wants better press coverage, stop tweeting. Walther, like many others, want the press and others to ignore the embarrassing or lie filled tweets, and pay attention to the ones that occasionally focus on issues. As to Amazon, maybe th debate should include all of the other times that presidents have publicly gone after the companies of people they don’t like and the ethical problems this creates. Also, there has been no shortage of reporting on the pros and cons of free trade. A guy criticizing the press for their reporting shouldn’t be building straw men.
Steve
I would just say that the nation is short on strong leaders, Trump acts strong, and therefore appears strong. People want leaders, not hand wringing apologists for our lifestyles and existence. This to Democrats, stop opposing , attacking, debasing Trump, find a platform, begin to lead, and you may have a snowball’s chance in hell next time.
I’m not quite as impressed by Trump as you, GS. I think that Trump acts like a weak person’s idea of what a strong person would act like rather than like the strong leaders I’ve met.