Yes, it’s that cognitive dissonance scale again! See, if the nation and the U.S. Presidency is +10, and a newly elected POTUS was -3 before being elected, what happens?
Ann Althouse, who blogged about the poll, seemed surprised. “Why do you think this happened?” asks the astute, well-educated, presumably historically informed law professor.
Why? Because that’s the way it’s supposed to work, and that’s the way it has always worked, that’s why. I explained this phenomenon here, to the jeers of skeptics. I also wrote, “Most people don’t understand the Presidency or their own culture,” though I’m a bit surprised that it applies to Ann. In the original post about the vicious attempts on the Left to undermine the new President before he has even taken office, I explained,
“Americans have always realized that the slate is cleared when someone becomes President, and that the individual inherits the office and the legitimacy of that office as it has been built and maintained by it previous occupants. He (no “he or she” yet, sorry: not my fault) becomes the symbol of the nation, the government and its people, a unique amalgam of prime minister, king and flag in human and civilian form. That immediate good will, respect for the Presidency, and forgiveness of all that went before has made the transfer of power in the US the marvel of the world, and has kept the nation from violence and division. It is part of our strength as a society. It is part of the election process, and a vital one.”
Let me quote the Gallup piece I cited before, backing this up:
“In general, the American public rates all new presidents positively — all have received majority approval in their debut ratings — though Obama is clearly near the top of the list. The three presidents who took office after the death or resignation of their predecessors tended to start out with even greater public support, as the nation rallied around the new chief executive in times of crisis. These include Harry Truman in 1945 with an 87% approval rating, Lyndon Johnson with 78% in 1963, and Gerald Ford with 71% in 1974.”
The new POLITICO/Morning Consult poll of registered voters found that 46% of voters now have a very favorable or somewhat favorable opinion of the previously reviled Trump. Now only 34% have a very unfavorable opinion of him, with 12% somewhat unfavorable.
That’s a big jump since the election. Trump’s favorability has expanded 9 points, 37 percent to 46 percent, compared to the poll right before the election — while his unfavorability has dropped 15 points, from 61 percent to 46 percent. Assuming he doesn’t do or say something outrageous, always a chancy assumption knowing The Donald, this trend can be expected to continue up to inauguration day. He will still enter office as the least popular new President yet, but still, he will begin his term with the wind at his back, and with most Americans wishing him well and hoping he succeeds.
Good.
Obviously, I’m not surprised. I’m also proud that the nation as a whole is not succumbing to the irresponsible efforts by some progressives, Democrats and pundits to undermine the President Elect before he has a chance. Here, at least, Althouse may be on to something, writing,”[It]it might be that the hostility and over-dramatic acting-out by Trump haters backfired, driving people right into the plush, beefy arms of President Trump.”
It might.
If so, it serves them right.
Ethics Alarms 
You’re right of course. I was adamantly opposed to Barack Obama, but once he was elected I wanted to be fair and see how he would do ~ to give him a chance. It didn’t last long. Right away the “apology tour” among other things had me questioning his every move. And that will happen with President-Elect Trump too. His every thought, word, action will be scrutinized unmercifully. I hope he’s learned something from this past year and remember that actions speak louder than words.
Well, Kanye West canceled his tour and seems to be mentally broken. Caitlyn Jenner is off TV, and Keeping Up With the Kardashians almost got canceled. So maybe there’s a feeling that it’s Morning in American Again.
And the Cubs won the World Series! And that rash on my leg seems to be going away…
Glad your rash is is going away. Now, can we play some chess?
Yes. First move tomorrow!
Search for Fattymoon.
There are pragmatic reasons not to damn Trump before he is allowed to act, but the “appeal to tradition” is fallacious and backwards thinking.
“the way its always been done” is anespecially troubling way to back a avowed “change” candidate.
That’s a blanket statement that is just plain wrong-headed, as well as misstating what I said, wrote, and know. I explained what the tradition was and why it occurs. I did not say we should do it because its always done this way, but because it has always been done this way, and it works. It’s also just damn illogical: The “change candidate” doesn’t want to or have to want to change conditions and traditions that help make leadership and change possible.
Here, I’ll quote it again, and maybe you’ll read it this time:
“Americans have always realized that the slate is cleared when someone becomes President, and that the individual inherits the office and the legitimacy of that office as it has been built and maintained by it previous occupants. He (no “he or she” yet, sorry: not my fault) becomes the symbol of the nation, the government and its people, a unique amalgam of prime minister, king and flag in human and civilian form. That immediate good will, respect for the Presidency, and forgiveness of all that went before has made the transfer of power in the US the marvel of the world, and has kept the nation from violence and division. It is part of our strength as a society. It is part of the election process, and a vital one.”
There’s no “appeal to tradition” there.
What an annoying comment.
Shoooot… clean slate.. Perhaps it was clean the night of the election… but he has been writing a lot on it lately..
His handlers asked him not to tweet so he did,. He has been told he couldn’t do or say the types of things he got away with before the election.. well maybe not so much.
I think the time before the inauguration is going to be interesting..
What exactly did he “get away with” during the election? Every stupid or careless statement became a week-long news story, and made him look irresponsible. The news media—and you, apparently—are looking for similar statements to distort or take literally now, but he’s been pretty careful.
Is it to early to start arguing about your JFK assassination post?
The best I can do is wait and see. I am far from remotely approving. But I am willing to wait and see. I think I would be a little more optimistic if he would actually start acting like the president elect, like staying off twitter and his little fits on there.. yeah things like that would help.
Really I think the people who have opposed him probably have just accepted this is the way it is for the moment.. I still hope the Electoral college flips… bwahahaha not that it’s likely but one can dream can’t they?
I might be misreading your comments about Ann Althouse, so forgive me if this seems a bit off base I read her question differently: her question is not, in my never-to-be-humble opinion, literal, but setting up for this response at the end of that paragraph:
“And it might be that the hostility and over-dramatic acting-out by Trump haters backfired, driving people right into the plush, beefy arms of President Trump.”
(Incidentally, I chuckled at the “beefy Trump arms” quip. She has a wonderful way with words.) She also posted her retort to a questioner/commenter who wondered why the polls would shift in the president-elect’s favor:
“You have to ask why because you don’t understand the counterproductive phenomenon you are part of. If you understood why, you might do something else. But go ahead, keep doing what is not working and wondering what the hell just happened. It’s part of what I’m finding so funny in post-election American life.”
jvb
I read Ann a lot, and I didn’t read it that way—but she’s a teacher, you may be right. That was a teacher set -up.
One of Trump’s worst enemies is his Twitter account. He shoots himself in the foot more often than he dispenses wisdom and insight. Somebody on his staff should take it away from him
Second. I think twitter is far below the dignity of a US President.
I don’t agree. I follow his Twitter account and many many many of his tweets are retweeted. Example… https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/800332639844659201
This has been ongoing for many months and I think it just might have been another factor in his upsetting Clinton.
Wow, you are right, things like this have been going on for awhile. Of course he gets retweeted a lot. Many people want to share his often daft tweets “can you believe he just said that”
The tweet you shared is particularly interesting.. I guess the fact that the General had been fired for at best being contentious. They will definitely get along
“It might be that the hostility and over-dramatic acting-out by Trump haters backfired, driving people right into the plush, beefy arms of President Trump.”
Gee, Ann in Madison, ya think?
Oh Dear Lord NO! EHRMAGERD!!!! NERZIS!!!!
You do know that American Communist groups seem to skew towards the Left side of the Republican-Democrat divide.
Did you you panic then?
No?
Then shut up.
Who are the Communists saying we should round up and put in ovens?
It’s nice that you don’t feel the need to take this threat seriously. Perhaps you should not be so dismissive of those of us who do.
Fearmonger much? Good lord. Take a pill. Quick.
It isn’t fearmongering when the fear is real.
Two years ago, people said Trump could never be president. If you think people like this could not become powerful in our country, you’ve learned nothing from the past two years.
“It isn’t fearmongering when the fear is real.” Epigram.
No, it isn’t fearmongering when the threat is credible, immediate and real. None of which is the case.
Who is anyone saying we should round up and put in ovens? I must have missed that. Seriously, Chris, I think it’s time for you to take a long break from this blog, hopefully so long you never come back. Your comments have gotten increasingly more ridiculous and more myriad over the last few weeks, to the point I think you could be accused of hijacking the blog.
Please. Chris has guts, principles, a point of view and thick skin. Don’t do that. I think he’s in orbit on this issue, but his perspective here is invaluable.
I still think he’s tgt or a clone of him.
“Who is anyone saying we should round up and put in ovens? I must have missed that.”
How nice for you.
http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/06/welcome-to-nazi-twitter-ill-be-your-guide/486233/
http://www.nationalreview.com/article/441319/donald-trump-alt-right-internet-abuse-never-trump-movement
The question still stands, Chris. There are wacko groups advocating everything under the sun. Who that actually represents a mainstream political figure advocates this? Or are you just “frightened” that such idiots exist at all?
Jack handled this well, but if we really want to go down this road, I know you’ve had to put some historically thick blinders on for this one.
I’ll grant you the average Communist platform doesn’t specifically say who they’ll kill, but I’m pretty sure the past 150 years of history shows that when they get their way, a goodly portion of the population goes away.
But please pretend like Communists aren’t as frightening as Nazis, since that is your concern of choice.
Oddly enough, more than a few of the cry-babies on your side of the aisle have gone on record that people need to die because of Trump’s election…
many of them currently in the streets wreaking mayhem in the communities…
But I don’t know how much you rely on evidence for your assertions.
I guess I find Trump much more palatable now that he is not on TV every day. In fact, apart from his Hamilton and SNL tweets, I don’t recall him saying something stupid and obnoxious since he got elected.
-Jut
When your adversaries are intent on destroying themselves, be quiet and let them.
Or, it might suggest he is working.
Check Twitter again; he has tweeted eleven times in the past 20 hours. A third of them are tweets targeting the New York Times.
But yes, aside from constantly attacking his critics in the pettiest terms possible, he’s been a model of professionalism.
I did not check Twitter to begin with. I don’t have to see him constantly on the 24-hour news cycle. I am just glad he is behind closed doors most of the time