Trumps Plan to Save His Presidency – The Atlantic

When it comes to the president, most people are dug in. They want him gone, or they admire him more than Abraham Lincoln. Tucked into the divide, though, is some small group still open to hearing what he has to say. Republican pollsters say theyve spotted these voters in their research. Neil Newhouse, who has polled for four different Republican presidential campaigns, told me about a survey his firm conducted last year showing that, of the voters who disapproved of Trumps job performance, 36 percent said they liked some of his policies and some actions that he took. Thats the prize. Theyre the voters Trump can target with an economic-nationalist position that may seem more relevant in the time of COVID-19, Newhouse and other Trump allies told me.

Read: The voters Trump needs most right now

An issue like thisnationalismcould come into play. They may not like everything hes doing, but they like the way hes standing up to China, Newhouse said. John McLaughlin, a Trump pollster who has also worked for dozens of Republican congressional and presidential candidates over the years, echoed that notion. There are some that may not like his style, but support his policies, and in particular, his economic-nationalist argument, he told me. Thats the persuadable middle. Thats where the votes are.

Even within this slice of the electorate, though, are some who see Trumps behavior as so repellent that they cant get past it. Donald Scoggins is one of them. A self-described moderate Republican from Northern Virginia, he backed Trump in the 2016 Republican primaries for a time and favored Trumps economic agenda, especially his pledge to bring manufacturing jobs home from overseas. He admires some of what Trump has done in office, especially Trumps passage of the First Step Act, a criminal-justice-system overhaul that reduced sentences for certain inmates. But its not enough to earn his vote. Youre the best thing since sliced bread if you agree with him, Scoggins, 74, a retired real-estate broker, told me. The minute you dont agree with him, he tends to denigrate you. Thats not an example we want for our youth.

Nor is a nationalist message certain to sway voters who have lost their jobs or fear that an ill-timed sneeze from somebody standing a few feet away might land them in the hospital. I dont know what argument is going to move 10 percent of the voters to Donald Trump, Michael Steele, the former chairman of the Republican National Committee, told me, pointing to the bloc of voters who may be undecided. I dont know what that economic argument is, unless youre so mind-numbingly dumb that you believe the Chinese are the culprits behind the fact that youve lost 30 percent of your retirement.

Its also not clear that Chinas culpability is a top-of-mind concern for many Americans. Geoff Garin, a Democratic pollster, told me that in a survey he conducted in battleground states, people ranked what they believed should be the federal governments priorities in the face of the pandemic. At the top of the list: quashing the virus. At the bottom: holding China accountable for allowing it to spread.

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Trumps Plan to Save His Presidency - The Atlantic