Gallup Poll Shows Trump Is Driving Away Our NATO Friends

The chart above is from the Gallup Poll -- done of at least 1,000 adults in 31 NATO countries. The margin of error for each country is between 3.4 and 5.4 points. 

The Democratic National Committee Is A Mess - And That's Not Good For The Party

 

I am a Democrat. I believe the Democratic Party has the solutions to make this country better for all of its citizens - both socially and economically. 

Currently, the party is not doing well. We lost the presidency and both houses of Congress in the last election. And most polls show Democrats faring as poorly as Republicans. It is imperative that this be changed. We must especially make it clear to working men and women that we still put their good before that of the rich.

But there is a problem with the organization that is supposed to build a stronger party - the Democratic National Committee (DNC). Instead of working together to grow the party and make it stronger, they seem to be engaged in partisan infighting.

Last February, the DNC elected a new chairman - Ken Martin of Minnesota. At the same time, some new officers were installed. One of these was David Hogg. Hogg is a young progressive who wanted to reach out to younger voters.

Hogg believes the party leaders are too old and don't represent younger voters as much as they should. He also said that he would use his Pac to support opponents to some elected Democrats in safe districts, because they are not fighting for constituents (or opposing Trump) as hard as they should - being more interested in just keeping their jobs.

That upset Martin and some other DNC members. They say the DNC should not interfere in party primaries, but remain neutral. Martin even claimed he couldn't do his job because Of Hogg and his supporters. That just sounds like a weak leader to me. The DNC should probably rethink it choice for chair.

Instead, they voted to have a new election for vice-chair - prerequisite for kicking Hogg out of his job. Hogg resigned. Now two at-large members (both union leaders) have resigned at DNC members - claiming the leadership is not acting to increase party membership.

I have to agree. If a DNC member wishes to remain neutral in primaries, that is their right. But it is also the right of any Democrats (including DNC members) to be active in party primaries (and support the candidacy of some running).

There are some elected Democrats who seem more interested in keeping their job for a lifetime than actually fighting for American citizens. Those should be opposed in their primaries - and kicked out of their jobs if the voters agree.

Frankly, I would have no problem with EVERY elected Democrats facing one or more primary opponents. If the party's voters think they are doing a good job, they will be reelected. If not, they would be defeated.

The neither the DNC nor party voters should be protecting Democrats in safe seats with a lifetime job. The party needs a youth injection - one provided by the voters.

The DNC needs to stop the infighting and do their job - growing the party and making it stronger. If they won't, the party's rank and file should choose new DNC members. 

Trump Seems To Think America First Means America Alone

Since World War II, the United States has been the preeminent power in the world - both militarily and economically. And every president (of both parties) has acted to defend other democracies and allies, while opposing authoritarian and rogue nations. It has resulted in U.S. presidents being universally acknowledged at the "leader of the free world".

Trump could have inherited that title, but he doesn't seem to want it. Since entering office the second time, he has attacked our allies. He has imposed tariffs on our good neighbors (Canada and Mexico) to start on March 4th. And he has said he will also impose tariffs on the European Union. He has demanded that NATO nations spend 5% of their GDP on defense (even though the U.S. only spends about 3%). And he has suggested that any nation that doesn't do his bidding will not get any help from the U.S.

At the same time, he has repeated Kremlin talking points - even to the point of Russia's invasion of Ukraine being the fault of Ukraine. He has even voted to support Russia in the United Nations. And he started "negotiations" with Russia to end the Russia/Ukraine war (without allowing Ukraine to participate).

Then, last week, he took the final step to complete the isolation of the United States from the rest of the world.

He invited Zelensky (Ukraine's president) to the White House to sign an agreement giving the U.S. half of Ukraine's valuable minerals (which he forced them to do in hopes of getting a security pledge from the United States). Then in an Oval Office showdown, witnessed by the press and television cameras, Trump started to tell a bunch of lies about the war (like how much the U.S. has given Ukraine and how they don't need security because he trusts Putin to keep his word).

Zelensky, an ethical leader, could not go along with the lies. And he would not agree to a peace plan that did not insure Ukraine's future security. He knew that Putin cannot be trusted (even though Trump trusts him). When Zelensky disagreed, Trump blew his stack.

He began to berated and threaten Zelensky. Then Vance joined in, demanding he thank Donald Trump for U.S. support (even though he's publicly thanked the U.S. dozens of times). Both tried to humiliate the Ukrainian president, and when he would give in, they kicked him out of the White House.

The temper tantrum Trump and Vance threw was a black mark on U.S. foreign policy. It was a turning point in U.S. history. And it effective ended the U.S. president being the leader of the free world. 

Most other democratic nations were quick to back Ukraine after the Oval Office fiasco. And it brought them to a realization. They had hoped they could nudge Trump into keeping the treaties, agreements, and economic cooperation that exists. They now realize that is hopeless. Trump is a bully whose not interested in real negotiations with anyone, but only trying to force others to agree with what he wants. They cannot trust him or depend on him for help.

Trump has turned "America First" into "America Alone" - a rogue nation with no friends. That makes the future much more dangerous for the United States - and for the World!

Public View Of Biden And Trump Leadership Styles

The charts above are from the CBS News / YouGov Poll -- done between September 12th and 15th of a nationwide sample of 4,002 adults, with a 2.1 point margin of error.

McConnell Is The Most Disliked Congressional Leader

The chart above reflects the results of the newest Economist / YouGov Poll -- done between August 12th and 15th of a nationwide sample of 1,500 adults, with a 3.2 point margin of error. 

Most Of NATO Has Higher Opinion Of U.S. Leadership

The chart above is from the Gallup Poll. They questioned a representative sample of adults in the NATO Countries between April 2021 and January 2022, and the margin of error for each country was between 2.8 and 5.0 points. Since Biden became president, most NATO nations have a higher opinion of U.S. leadership.

View Of U.S. Leadership Has Gone Up In Most Nations

These charts are from the Gallup Poll. They questioned residents of many countries on their view of U.S. leadership between April and August of this year, and the margin of error for each country is between 2.8 and 5.0 points.

Note that that the global approval of U.S. leadership has risen by 19 points -- from 30% (under Trump) to 49% (under Biden).

Only 3 countries had the view of U.S. leadership drop -- Russia (by 5 points), Benin (by 4 points), and Serbia (by 4 points). The view went up in the other countries (between 2 and 52 points).

Biden's Approval Is Strong Compared To 12 Other Leaders

These charts are from the Morning Consult Poll. They represent a 7-day running average of 1,000 adults queried each day in 12 countries (and 5,000 in the U.S.). The margin of error for each country is between 1 and 3 points.
 

Former RNC Chair Says Leadership Matters (& Biden Has It)

 Michael Steele is the former chairman of the Republican National Committee. He's been a Republican all his life. But he's not a Trumpista, and he appreciates having Joe Biden as president. Here is what he had to say in an op-ed for MSNBC:

The responsibility of those we elect to lead, whether during a depression or a pandemiccoupled with tectonic social unrest, is to be an honest broker on our behalf. They must be fearless in enacting policies that encourage greater economic growth and social reforms; and visionary in fostering a climate that promotes job creation while remaining responsive to the welfare of those all too often left behind as growth takes hold.

Leadership matters.

Much of what has been written and said about President Joseph R. Biden overlooks this essential quality to his success. His time as both a senator and vice president positioned him well to understand that passing a big agenda — be it social or economic — requires the discipline of leadership. His immediate predecessor failed to pass much of anything — perhaps because he lacked both discipline and leadership.

People are acutely aware of what is happening right now across the country. From Covid-19 recovery to racial inequality and policing, Americans are closely monitoring how well Biden is managing these rather difficult and highly charged issues. As he has crafted his policy on the pandemic and now infrastructure, Biden has shrewdly sat down with us at the proverbial kitchen table to explain what he wants to do and why. Even more importantly, he has asked us to help by doing our part.

Biden’s approach is quite different from what we have seen from other presidents in recent years. He seems less concerned with the obvious Democrat vs. Republican rancor. Perhaps, it is because he is familiar with the ways of Washington and knows the political divides that block progress are mostly designed for partisan showboating. It should surprise no one that he has so far steered around such resistance and engaged more directly and personally with voters.

And it’s working. Not only does a recent Pew Research Center pollhave his job approval at 59 percent, but also the latest NBC News poll has 69 percent of Americans approving of the president’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic and 52 percent approving of how he’s managing the economy. And even though his approval is upside down with voters on China (35 percent), the gun issue (34 percent) and border security/immigration (33 percent), the American public does not seem generally to be holding those issues against him.

The difference is leadership; and people are warming to Biden’s brand. As one NBC News poll respondent noted, “The best thing about Joe Biden is I don't have to think about Joe Biden.” In other words, they trust him. . . .

Republicans and even some progressives may want to see Biden’s first 100 days through a strictly partisan/ideological lens in which the administration is spending too much and getting it all wrong. But voters, at least for now, think the president is getting it right — or at least making it better.

The American people want safety and they want normalcy. Parents want their kids back in school; small-business owners want to welcome back their customers; and everyone wants hugs and handshakes to replace sanitizers and masks. Biden thinks he can make that happen, and folks so far believe him.

The president has demonstrated his concern and his compassion for everyday people. He is helping them look forward, not backward. He is raising their spirits rather than stoking their fears. He accepts the bottom line of leadership — the buck stops here — rather than blaming others. For countless Americans, that’s enough for them to “examine and assimilate in a mental picture” what leadership looks like. And so far, they like what they see.

Poll: Biden & Harris Strong Leaders (Harris Slightly More)

The chart above reflects the results of a recent Economist / YouGov Poll -- done between February 19th and 22nd of a national sample of 1,500 adults,  with a 2.7 point margin of error.

It shows that a majority of American adults believe both President Biden and Vice-President Harris are strong leaders. Somewhat surprising (for me), Kamala Harris is viewed slightly stronger than Joe Biden.

U.S. Leadership Approval Is Very Low Around The World

 

The charts above are from the Gallup Poll. Gallup questioned people in 60 countries, asking them if they approved of the leadership job being done by the United States. Only 9 of the 60 countries had 50% approval of U.S. leadership or more. The other 51 countries had less than 50% approval -- most of them far less.

Before the Trump administration came to power, most of those countries would have had faith in U.S. leadership. In only one term, Trump destroyed faith in U.S. leadership around the world.

Trump Destroyed The World's Respect For U.S. Leadership

 The chart above is from the Gallup Poll. In 2020, they questioned at least 1000 people in 29 countries. They asked them if they approved for disapproved of the job performance of U.S. leadership. Only two countries had a higher approval than disapproval -- Albania (56-22) and Mauritius (50-40).

All other nations disapproved -- most of them by a very large margin.

Joe Biden has a lot of work to do after taking office to repair the damage that Trump has done. It won't be easy, and it'll probably take more than one term, since many of those countries will be afraid that the U.S. will turn to Trump (or someone like him) in the next presidential election.

Losing The War On COVID-19 Is A Failure Of Leadership

For a brief period of time, it looked like the United States might actually be getting a handle on the COVID-19 pandemic -- in spite of the delays and bungling of the Trump administration.

But then Trump decided that the economy was more important than fighting the virus or saving American lives, so he urged the states to reopen their businesses and stop the social distancing (and wearing of masks). He didn't understand that the economy can't rebound until the virus is under control.

Numerous Republican governors followed his lead, and now we have the virus surging in those red states.

We could still tamp down this resurgence of the virus, but that would require leadership from our national and state governments. Sadly, Trump has shown he is incapable of such leadership, and Republican governors won't go against his lead.

The latest idea from the White House is to do nothing -- to just learn to live with the virus. In other words, Trump (who claimed to be a war-time president fighting the virus) has surrendered.The virus is winning -- and it's winning because of a failure of leadership.

Here's part of how Paul Krugman describes this failure of leadership in The New York Times:

Why did America bungle COVID-19 so badly?

There has been a fair bit of commentary to the effect that our failed pandemic response was deeply rooted in American culture. We are, the argument goes, too libertarian, too distrustful of government, too unwilling to accept even slight inconveniences to protect others.

And there’s surely something to this. I don’t think any other advanced country (but are we still an advanced country?) has a comparable number of people who respond with rage when asked to wear a mask in a supermarket. There definitely isn’t any other advanced country where demonstrators against public health measures would wave guns around and invade state capitols. And the Republican Party is more or less unique among major Western political parties in its hostility to science in general.

But what strikes me, when looking at America’s extraordinary pandemic failure, is how top-down it all was.

Those anti-lockdown demonstrations weren’t spontaneous, grass-roots affairs. Many were organized and coordinated by conservative political activists, some with close ties to the Trump campaign, and financed in part by right-wing billionaires.

And the rush to reopen in Sunbelt states was less a response to popular demand than a case of Republican governors following Trump’s lead.

The main driving force behind reopening, as far as I can tell, was the administration’s desire to have big job gains leading into November, so that it could do what it knew how to do — boast about economic success. Actually dealing with the pandemic just wasn’t Trump’s kind of thing.

In that case, however, why has Trump refused to wear a face mask or encourage others to do so? After all, wider use of masks would be one way to limit infections without shutting down the economy.

Well, Trump’s vanity — his belief that wearing a mask would make him look silly, or mess up his makeup, or something — has surely played a role. But it’s also true that masks remind people that we haven’t controlled the coronavirus — and Trump wants people to forget that awkward fact.

The irony is that Trump’s willingness to trade deaths for jobs and political gain has backfired.

Reopening did lead to large job increases in May and June, as around a third of the workers laid off as a result of the pandemic were rehired. But Trump’s job approval and electoral prospects just kept sliding.

And even in purely economic terms the rush to reopen is probably failing. The last official employment number was a snapshot from the second week of June; a variety of short-term indicators suggest that growth slowed or even went into reverse soon afterward, especially in states where Covid-19 cases are spiking.

In any case, the point is that America’s defeat at the hands of the coronavirus didn’t happen because victory was impossible. Nor was it because we as a nation were incapable of responding. No, we lost because Trump and those around him decided that it was in their political interests to let the virus run wild.

Trump's Coronavirus Approval Numbers Are Dropping Now

The charts above are from the latest Morning Consult Poll -- done on March 31st and April 1st of a national sample of 1,997 registered voters, with a 2 point margin of error.

In mid-March, when it looked like Donald Trump may finally have been convinced of the seriousness of the Coronavirus epidemic and was ready to take action and provide real leadership, voters gave him 53% approval to only 39% disprovable -- a net approval rating of 14 points.

Sadly though, he has failed to take appropriate action or demonstrated true leadership, and the voters are starting to realize that. In the latest poll, his approval is only 49% and disapproval has risen to 47%. That's a net approval of only 2 point -- 12 points below mid-March.

Republicans still show strong support for Trump, but disapproval has risen among both Independents (from 38% to 49%) and Democrats (from 64% to 78%).

America's Leaders Need To Tell Some Hard Truths

The following is just part of an excellent article in The New York Times by Dr. Michael T. Osterholm and Mark Olshaker:

When leaders tell the truth about even near-desperate situations, when they lay out a clear and understandable vision, the public might remain frightened, but it will act rationally and actively participate in the preservation of its safety and security.

Our leaders need to begin by stating a number of hard truths about our situation. The first is that no matter what we do at this stage, numerous hospitals in the United States will be overrun. Many people, including health care workers, will get sick and some will die. And the economy will tank. It’s too late to change any of this now. . . .

The second hard truth is that at this stage, any public health response that counts on widespread testing in the United States is doomed to fail. No one planned on the whole world experiencing a health conflagration of this magnitude at once, with the need to test many millions of people at the same time. Political leaders and talking heads should stop proffering the widespread-testing option; it simply
won't be available.

A third hard truth is that shortages of personal protective equipment — particularly N-95 masks — for health care workers will only get worse in the United States as global need continues to rise precipitously. There is no point holding out the false hope that the Defense Production Act will save the residents of the United States. Not enough manufacturing activities can be converted to produce masks in a matter of weeks. You can’t turn engine-making machinery into an N-95 respirator assembly line just because you want to. . . .

More than anything, what the United States needs right now is for the president to undertake an intellectual Manhattan Project: gather the best minds in public health, medicine, medical ethics, catastrophe preparedness and response; political leadership; and private-sector manufacturing and the pharmaceutical industry.

It took nearly three years to develop the atomic bomb. The effort against Covid-19 will need to be bear fruit within days — and come up with a comprehensive but realistic blueprint for getting America through the next 12 to 18 months, or however long it takes for a vaccine to become widely available or herd immunity to take hold in the population. Once a plan has been devised, the president will have to dispense with any happy talk and instead actually convey what the experts are telling him. He will have to define the new normal for a frightened nation that is looking for facts, direction and a common purpose.

Trump's Lack Of Leadership Has Failed The Nation

It's bad enough that Trump delayed taking any action to curb the Coronavirus epidemic for nearly two months. He was warned about the coming epidemic near the end of January, but did nothing. He was afraid that acting would hurt his chances of being re-elected.

A few days ago, he finally began to admit the seriousness of the situation. Unfortunately, he continues to drag his feet on doing what is needed. Instead, he wants to blame others for his own failings.

The tweet above is a prime example. The governor of Illinois, and several other states, asked the federal government to act to provide states with needed money and medical equipment. Trump's response was to blame them. He wants us to believe that this epidemic is a state problem -- and each state must handle it individually.

He has said, "I am not responsible at all (for the delay in taking effective action)". But he is responsible.

The Coronavirus epidemic has now reached every one of the 50 states -- and there is no doubt that it will get worse in all of those states. It is a true national emergency.

National emergencies cannot effectively be handled by 50 different governors (and numerous mayors and county leaders). National emergencies must be handled by the federal government, because a unified and coordinated response is required. And when a federal government response is required, it is the duty and responsibility of the president to provide leadership for that response.

We have known for a while now that Trump was a poor leader, with his administration awash in chaos and incompetence. But we hoped that in a real national emergency, he would rise above his many shortcomings as past presidents have done. That was a vain hope.

We now face that national emergency, and Trump is displaying a total lack of leadership. Instead of taking responsibility, he still wants to play a blame game. He is an utter failure as a leader -- and that is going to make it much harder for this nation to weather both the epidemic and the economic crisis it faces.

Trump wants to be re-elected. His failure of leadership shows he doesn't deserve that.

Iowa Democratic Party Leadership Should Be Ashamed

I had planned to use this space to report the results of the Iowa caucuses. That is not going to happen now.

It's not going to happen because the Iowa Democratic Party has demonstrated an unbelievable level of incompetence. The leadership of that state party has shamed themselves, and made the party look like it cannot even hold a simple election where results are reported in a timely manner.

They created an app that did not work on caucus night. That's inexcusable. That app should have been tested and then retested several times. And they should have had a telephone back-up system that was adequate to step in if the app failed (as it surely did). There were precinct chairs that waited on the phone for hours to report their results. That's also inexcusable.

There is only one conclusion we can reach after the debacle in Iowa. The leadership of the Iowa Democratic Party is incompetent.

When the Iowa Democrats meet in their state convention, they need to elect new state leadership -- leadership that is competent.

It Looks Like al-Baghdadi Is Dead - But ISIS Is Not

(Photo of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, from The Washington Post, is by Al-Furqan Media.)

Donald Trump announced on Sunday morning that U.S. soldiers had killed ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. If that is true (and I have no reason to believe it is not), then that is a good thing. He was a vicious leader who cared nothing about innocent lives.

United States intelligence services and soldiers deserve our thanks for a job well done.

But there is still danger for citizens around the world. While al-Baghdadi may be dead, ISIS is not. I hope Trump, who has demonstrated he is not very smart and doesn't understand foreign relations, doesn't think the danger is gone. The caliphate is gone and another ISIS leader is dead, but thousands of dedicated ISIS members remain, and they have a huge potential for terrorist activity in the future.

We learned this lesson after the death of Osama bin-Laden. His death did not eliminate the threat from al-Queda. In fact, al-Queda is growing thanks to the war in Yemen (where is is supported by Saudi money and Saudi-supplied U.S. arms).

Religious-based terrorist groups cannot be eliminated by killing one person -- not matter how high in their leadership he was. They consider their leader to be god, and another human (who claims to know what god wants) will quickly replace the fallen human leader.

Even though al-Baghdadi and bin-Laden are dead, ISIS and al-Queda are not. Only a fool would think the danger is gone.

It Is Still Barack Obama's Democratic Party

The charts above reflect the results of the recent NBC News / Wall Street Journal Poll -- done between September 13th and 16th of a national sample of 506 Democratic primary voters, with a margin of error of 4.36 points.

If you had any doubts as to who is the current leader of the Democratic Party, this should answer them. Democrats still love and respect President Barack Obama.

About 8 our of 10 (78%) think Obama did the best job he could (especially considering he had to contend with a recalcitrant Republican Congress the majority of his term). And a whopping 90% say they still have a positive view of Obama. I seriously doubt any other Democratic politician can equal that 90%.

Democrats love President Obama, and he will be the party's leader until another Democrat moves into the White House.

Confidence In U.S. Leadership Now Low In NATO Nations

Trump is to meet with the heads of the NATO nations in Belgium today and tomorrow (July 11th and 12th). It's an understatement to say most of those nations are troubled by the actions of Trump, and his continual sniping at the organization. Trump has even gone so far as to question whether he would honor the U.S. commitment to NATO, or even stay in the organization. That probably makes Vladimir Putin very happy, but it is making the NATO nations very nervous. In the past, they have never had to worry about the commitment of the United States to NATO.

The charts above show the results of polls done by the Gallup Poll of citizens in the NATO nations. Note that confidence in U.S. leadership has fallen dramatically among most of those nations. This brings up an important question -- can NATO survive if there is no confidence that U.S. leaders will meet their obligations?