Anti-Trump Demonstrators Are More Popular Than Trump

(This caricature of Donald Trump is by the inimitable DonkeyHotey.)

The narcissist-in-chief is not happy that he's the most unpopular president in modern times. And most of his policies are no more popular than he is. Compounding his displeasure is the fact that the anti-Trump demonstrators are polling higher favorable numbers than Trump.

The following is much of an article by Richard Eskow at OurFuture.org:

For Donald Trump, this has got to hurt: Less than two weeks after his inauguration, the people who took to the streets to protest his policies have outstripped him in popularity.

And, given his rich history of “locker room banter” and other sexist comments, it must be especially humiliating for Trump to know that the biggest mobilizations of protesters who bested him were led by women.

The numbers are irrefutable. Trump’s approval rating has sunk to a historically low 42 percent, according to Gallup, yet 60 percent of the public approved of the women’s marches, a Washington Post poll found. Only 29 percent of those polled disapproved of the anti-Trump marchers yet 54 percent disapproved of Trump’s performance as president. In an even more startling finding, Public Policy Polling found in late January that 40 percent of voters thought Trump ought to be impeached.

They don’t like you, Mr. President. They really don’t like you.

The marchers were also more than twice as popular as the tea party was when it first appeared. Sixty percent of those polled approved of the women’s marches in the days following those nationwide events, and 33 percent strongly approved. By contrast, only 27 percent of the public approved of the tea party at the height of its popularity in early 2010, and only 17 percent strongly approved.

That’s especially impressive when you consider the fact that the tea party was very well funded and was heavily promoted by the Fox News media empire. Right-wing rants to the contrary, there was no big money behind the women’s marches, not even from George Soros. . . .

With a few notable exceptions like his intentions to spike and renegotiate trade deals and ramp up infrastructure spending, Trump’s policies are as unpopular as he is. Trump is moving to gut the Environmental Protection Agency and he has appointed a climate-change-denying fossil fuel lobbyist named Scott Pruitt to run it. But more than 60 percent of Americans want to see the EPA’s regulatory powers maintained or strengthened. An equal share of us opposes Trump’s plans to increase oil drilling on public lands.

As Trump staffs his Goldman Sachs-rich administration, nearly 60 percent of Americans polled last year believed (correctly) that Wall Street was still a threat to the economy. As he moves to cut bank regulations, it should be noted that 89 percent of Republicans in that poll supported regulating the financial industry. Trump is moving to reduce the power of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau at a time when 56 percent of those polled want to maintain or increase its authority.

Recent polling by CNN/ORC International also shows that 60 percent of Americans oppose Trump’s plan to build a wall between the United States and Mexico, and 53 percent oppose his plans to halt refugee arrivals and ban immigrants and visitors from seven Muslim-majority nations. Even his Supreme Court nominee, Neil Gorsuch, lags in popularity behind Obama pick Merrick Garland by a seven-point margin, according to Gallup. . . .

The important question isn’t, “What will Trump do?” It’s, “What will the left do?” Public opinion is against Trump, and with his opponents. But, as the 2016 election showed, anti-Trump revulsion alone doesn’t inspire action. Action arises from optimism, it seems, and optimism arises from a positive agenda for the future.

Despite its weak numbers, the tea party managed to take control of the Republican Party. The GOP now holds more power than it has in many decades. Much of that success can be explained by a corrupted political system, and the billions of dollars invested in that party by corporations and billionaires.

But that’s not the whole story. The tea party also had a story to tell. It was a myth, but it was coherent and clear: The government is the enemy, and we can improve your life by shrinking it.

Meanwhile, Democrats were torn between the Roosevelt legacy and the lure of billionaire cash peddled a mushy blend of focus-group-tested taglines and Horatio Alger myth-making. From “equality of opportunity” to “in it to win it,” their rhetoric was vague and uninspired.

Then came Trump, telling the economic story Democrats should have told: The game is rigged. Wall Street ripped you off. I’ll bring back your jobs. I’ll rebuild our crumbling infrastructure. I’ll protect your Social Security and your Medicare.

The anti-Trump movement stands at a crossroads. It can choose the path of pure opposition, or it can contrast Trump’s dark worldview with a positive vision that forms the basis for a new politics.

“Resistance” has two definitions: One is “resisting, opposing, or withstanding.” Those words suggest a great effort must be made just to stand still against the onslaught.

The other definition is, “the opposition offered by one thing, force, etc., to another.” That suggests something with momentum, pushing in the opposite direction.

In today’s political climate, “opposing” — or worse, merely “withstanding” — isn’t enough. It will take a countervailing force for change to stop Trump and the Republicans.

The early signs are good. Demonstrators protested the immigration-restricting executive order and the Mexican border wall. Furious constituents are letting Republican lawmakers know what they think of their plans to repeal the Affordable Care Act without replacing it. Multi-issue protests, like the women’s marches, are emphasizing the ideal of the United States as an inclusive community. They have also pressured Democrats to hold firm against Trump’s most extremist and least qualified appointees.

Trump will undoubtedly go on spinning his apocalypse fables. Doomsday scenarios alone aren’t likely to stop him. Yes, the nation and the world are at risk. But the best chance to defeat Trump is by offering a positive alternative vision for the future, with a movement that fights for the things voters need: jobs, shared prosperity, a livable planet and a government that works for its people.