White House officials agree that a new re-election strategy is necessary down the stretch, but moving in a different direction with a notoriously undisciplined candidate and a hostile, pro-Biden media lying in wait is another matter. Reviving the coronavirus briefings with Mr. Trump is an effort to improve his poll numbers, and making them shorter and more congenial is a welcome change. Yet this week the president was back to undermining his own health-care experts in late-night tweets, which probably isn’t part of the reboot.
Similarly, the Trump administration seems intent to push a “law and order” message to voters by cracking down on antipolice mayhem that has become commonplace in several large U.S. cities. Mr. Trump’s frustration at what he sees playing out on television night after night is understandable. But it isn’t clear that sending federal agents where they aren’t wanted is a smart political move, even if the president has the authority to do it. The reality is that the protests are more popular than the president. The unrest has been fueled by a false narrative indulged in the media, but polling shows that the protesters have found sympathy with a majority of Americans, including the white suburbanites Mr. Trump hopes to win over with his crackdowns.
The reason Mr. Trump was headed for re-election before the pandemic was the economy. If he wants a second term, he would do better to focus on responsibly reopening businesses, returning kids to school, and assuring voters that the best person to lead the current recovery is the person who oversaw the last one.
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