Donald Trump would be on track to win a historic landslide in November ā€” if so many US voters didnā€™t find him personally repugnant.

Roughly 53 percent of Americans have anĀ unfavorable opinionĀ of the former president. And yet, when asked about Trumpā€™s ability to handle key issues ā€” or the impact of hisĀ policiesĀ ā€”Ā voters routinelyĀ giveĀ the Republican candidate higher marks thanĀ President Biden.

In aĀ YouGov surveyĀ released this month, Trump boasted an advantage over Biden on 10 of the 15 issues polled. On the three issues that votersĀ routinely nameĀ as top priorities ā€” theĀ economy, immigration, and inflation ā€” respondents said that Trump would do a better job by double-digit margins.

Meanwhile, in aĀ recent New York Times/Siena College poll,Ā 40 percent of voters said that Trumpā€™s policies had helped them personally, while just 18 percent said the same of Biden. If Americans could elect a normal human being with Trumpā€™s reputation for being ā€œtoughā€ on immigration and good at economics, they would almost certainly do so.

Biden is fortunate that voters do not have that option. But to erase Trumpā€™sĀ small but stubborn leadĀ in the polls, the president needs to erode his GOP rivalā€™s advantage on the issues.

  • Got_Bent@lemmy.world
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    8 months ago

    Iā€™ve been working for three decades. In that time, weā€™ve had some legitimate financial crises such as 9/11, 2008, and COVID.

    Those aside, what Iā€™ve mainly witnessed is people who fail in business or lose their job via incompetence never say, ā€œMan, I shouldā€™ve hired a legitimate bookkeeper and stopped using my corporate card to cut rails in the strip club bathroom,ā€ or, ā€œMan, maybe I shouldā€™ve shown up to work more than twice a month and maybe I shouldnā€™t have slapped the receptionist on the ass when I did show up.ā€

    No. Itā€™s always, ā€œMy business failed and I lost my job because of the economyā€

    ā€œThe economyā€ is some great catch all bogeyman scapegoat that has very little basis in meaning when used in daily conversation, especially as it pertains to personal finance.

    We can talk about corporatocracies or consolidation of wealth or two tier justice because those things are real and should be addressed, but they are rarely what people are referring to when they blame ā€œthe economy.ā€