Trump may turn a big Democratic win into a romp
Opinion by
Columnist
Oct. 6, 2020 at 12:07 p.m. CDT
President
Trump, still contagious with covid-19, seems intent not only to convey a
dangerous message about the pandemic but also to demonstrate his utter
disregard for the lives of those around him. He has taken a spin in a
sealed vehicle with Secret Service agents, ripped off his mask upon
returning to the White House from Walter Reed National Military Medical Center
and has refused to fess up about
when he last tested negative for the coronavirus. If he does not care about the
health of the people who drive his car, clean his home and work in his West
Wing, you can be sure he does not care about the lives of the hundreds of
millions of Americans living under his administration.
Is it
too far-fetched to think Trump did not have negative tests to
ensure others’ safety before the Rose Garden event on Sept. 26
or the debate on Sept. 29? Before the latest example of his stomach-turning
indifference to others, we would have doubted even he was capable of such
conduct. Now, it would not be surprising to learn that he knowingly endangered
others, especially because he is concealing tests he took prior to discovering
the illness of White House staffer Hope Hicks and because he conveniently missed his test at
the debate site in Cleveland. The failure to conduct contact tracing for those
who attended the Rose Garden ceremony also raises suspicions that the White
House wants to keep the extent of its covid-19 catastrophe under wraps.
Republicans
on the Hill are no better. They seem intent on jamming through a Supreme Court
nominee who would likely strike down the Affordable Care Act. Even those who
recently tested positive declare their intent to push forward with
hearings next week. Some, such as
Sen. Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa), refuse to be tested
at all. In conducting themselves with Trumpian disregard for others’
well-being, Republicans show the voters that they are just as indifferent to
the harm they may cause others as Trump is. One wonders how a sitting judge
such as Amy Coney Barrett could countenance this conduct designed to race
against the election clock.
The
irony (or karma) is that this cavalier attitude toward a deadly disease is
overwhelmingly unpopular. The poll numbers are staggeringly bad for Trump. In
the most recent CNN poll, he
trails former vice president Joe Biden by 16 points. It’s not just Trump’s
collapse but a rise in Biden’s popularity that is widening the gap. (CNN
reports:
“Biden’s
favorability ratings have also improved, with 52% of Americans now saying they
have a positive impression of the former vice president, compared with 39% who
have a positive view of Trump.”) Biden’s average lead, according to
FiveThirtyEight, is nearly nine points.
State
polling is equally grim for Trump. In Pennsylvania, the most
recent Monmouth poll puts Biden’s lead at 12 points, up from a four-point lead
just a month ago. Biden leads in Michigan by nearly
nine points in the WDIV/Detroit News poll, with a roughly 30-point advantage
among older voters.
Trump’s
bullying behavior at the debate and his contemptuous and reckless response to
covid-19 are sealing his fate. Should these numbers hold, we would be looking
at a blowout election of the sort we have not seen in decades.
Few
Republicans outside deep-red enclaves are now secure. If the top of the ticket
is running as strongly as Biden appears to be, down-ballot Republicans in
states not normally at risk could be swept away. Why, then, do Republicans
actually imitate Trump’s behavior and defend his antics? You have got me, but
they are destroying their own hopes for political survival.
Do not
be surprised if Senate seats in unlikely states (e.g., Alaska, South Carolina)
fall into Democrats’ laps. If there is a blue tsunami, Republicans will have no
one to blame but Trump and their own irresponsible mimicry of an utterly unfit
president.
