By Dave Andrusko
Moliere, the 17th century French playwright, actor and poet, is credited with saying, “The greater the obstacle, the more glory in overcoming it.” When this presidential contest is finally concluded, pro-lifers will remind themselves of what would have been to any politician other than pro-life President Donald Trump insuperable odds.
Instead, he beat them all—the legion of media Trump haters, the raft of pro-abortion billionaires pouring in tons of money, the devastation of a pandemic which has taken more than 200,000 lives and wreaked havoc with the economy– with the invaluable assistance of countless pro-lifers who refused to listen to the incessant drumbeat of smears, baseless conspiratorial allegations, and condescending assertions that they should just fold their tents and go home because pro-abortion Joe Biden is busy measuring drapes for the White House.
Let’s take a look at what is really going on.
Hours after the first debate concluded, President Trump was on his way to Minnesota. The state’s biggest newspaper, the [Minneapolis] Star-Tribune, did its best to downplay the significance of Trump visiting two different cities and that (despite cold weather in Duluth) “The more than 3,000 people in the crowd often cheered wildly, with some standing on chairs to glimpse the descent of Air Force One.”
Let’s look at some headlines and explain what they mean as we go forward.
*“At 46%, Trump’s Pre-Debate Job Approval Highest Since May”—Gallup… up from 42% earlier in September”
*“The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Thursday, shows that 49% of Likely U.S. Voters approve of President Trump’s job performance. Fifty-one percent (51%) disapprove… By next Monday morning, all 1,500 voters in the daily tracking survey will have been polled following Tuesday night’s contentious debate.” —Rasmussen Reports
*“ADP [National Employment Report]: Job adds beat expectations in September; weekly jobless claims dip to 837K”—Hot Air’s Ed Morrissey
*Trump up by one point in Michigan, down two in Wisconsin and North Carolina, tied in Arizona—latest figures from Real Clear Politics
*“Immediate polls after the event? The C-Span poll declared Trump the winner with over 230,000 people voting [69%]. That would seem pretty important, albeit not scientific”– Nick Arama
And
*“It’s no secret that the ruling class in America despises the country class. If you’re one of those people who don’t live in coastal cities and subscribe to the same worldview as the elite aspirants hoping for a job at a billionaire-backed NGO or an internship that might lead to a job at McKinsey then you’re a deplorable, a CHUD, and definitely racist and whatever bad things are happening to you, your family, and your inland town are your just deserts”— Chris Buskirk
As we’ve said many times, there are polls and polls and more polls. I like Rasmussen because he polls every day and he surveys Likely Voters. Trump’s approval ratings dipped from low 50s to 46% and just came back up to 49%.
Gallup’s numbers are genuinely intriguing.
Megan Brenan’s opening paragraph is telling:
WASHINGTON, D.C. — In Gallup polling conducted over the two weeks leading up to the first presidential debate, President Donald Trump’s job approval rating is 46%, its highest point since May. Although still short of the majority approval that incumbent presidents typically need in order to be confident of reelection, more Americans say they expect he, rather than Joe Biden, will win the election.
More believe President Trump will win the election than Mr. Biden? Yes, overwhelmingly: 56% to 40%! That includes 56% of Independents, according to Gallup.
I mention what is expected to be better job numbers for an obvious reason. The state of the economy is always a major factor.
Put that together with what Gallup found: 54% approve of President Trump’s handling of the economy.
I reference the latest polling numbers for four of the “battleground states.” In spite of everything, Mr. Trump is competitive in all of them. And, contrary to what you read in places such as the Star-Tribune, the President has a good chance of winning Minnesota.
I could expand at length on Chris Buskirk’s conclusion. But do any of us not already know what the coastal elites already think of us, or what they will write when Biden is defeated? I think not.
Finally, what about the 239,000 people who participated after the debate in a CSPAN poll? Do I believe the 69% who said Trump won is accurate? Yes, I do. Do I think if you polled all the CSPAN viewers the numbers would be more equal? I do that, as well.
The point simply being that the hysteria surrounding the debate—the pronouncements from on high that President Trump had performed poorly—say more (a) about those making the assessments, and (b) miss altogether that most people already knew who they are going to vote for. Besides, there are two more presidential debates as well as the vice presidential debate between pro-life Vice President Mike Pence and pro-abortion Sen. Kamala Harris.