Donald Trump would be on track to win a historic landslide in November ā if so many US voters didnāt find him personally repugnant.
Roughly 53 percent of Americans have anĀ unfavorable opinionĀ of the former president. And yet, when asked about Trumpās ability to handle key issues ā or the impact of hisĀ policiesĀ āĀ voters routinelyĀ giveĀ the Republican candidate higher marks thanĀ President Biden.
In aĀ YouGov surveyĀ released this month, Trump boasted an advantage over Biden on 10 of the 15 issues polled. On the three issues that votersĀ routinely nameĀ as top priorities ā theĀ economy, immigration, and inflation ā respondents said that Trump would do a better job by double-digit margins.
Meanwhile, in aĀ recent New York Times/Siena College poll,Ā 40 percent of voters said that Trumpās policies had helped them personally, while just 18 percent said the same of Biden. If Americans could elect a normal human being with Trumpās reputation for being ātoughā on immigration and good at economics, they would almost certainly do so.
Biden is fortunate that voters do not have that option. But to erase TrumpāsĀ small but stubborn leadĀ in the polls, the president needs to erode his GOP rivalās advantage on the issues.
Gridlock doesnāt benefit Democrats like it does Republicans.
How so?
Democrats run on a platform of āwe want to do x, y, and z to make things better. Vote us in and we will do those things.ā
Republicans run on a platform of āwe want to destroy things a, b, and c to make things better. Vote us in and we will destroy those things.ā
Filibustering helps destroy things. It does not help to build things.
Itās easier to destroy than build.