The Republican Party still has a strong brand — or at least stronger than the president’s. In a pre-pandemic January survey, Gallup found that the GOP had it’s highest public approval rating — 51 percent — since just after George W. Bush was re-elected in 2005. A summer 2019 Pew survey had the party’s approval rating at 45 percent — several ticks above the president’s. There’s no question that President Trump’s shambolic response to the COVID-19 disaster has dragged the party’s reputation down with it, and that’s reflected in some less bullish numbers in other surveys. Yet as an institution, it commands the loyalty of tens of millions of Americans, many of whom may not be particularly invested in Trumpism. The appeal of conservatism — small government, lower taxes, business-oriented policy, family values — will survive this presidency and remain indelibly associated with the Republican Party.
President Trump? He’s the least popular incumbent at this stage of his term since George H.W. Bush, who lost his re-election bid to Democrat Bill Clinton. Last week an AP-NORC poll pegged his approval rating at 35 percent. Voters disapprove of his handling of the coronavirus — destined to be the central issue of this campaign — by nearly a 2-1 margin.
Turning the Republican National Convention into some kind of tacky, late-night public access Trump TV show also means that party elites at the highest levels appear to believe the president’s bluster about how beloved he is by self-identified Republicans.
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