I’ve been watching the aggregated approval poll tracking at FiveThirtyEight. And it’s been extremely frustrating watching Trump’s approval rating stubbornly holding above 38%. That’s been his floor, and no matter how repugnant his behavior, no matter how incompetent he’s been, no matter what news blasted out there about the Russians.
But yesterday, something finally gave, and his first dip recorded below 38% happened and he hit 37.8%, and today’s update put him at 37.0%. What was heretofore a rock solid base number finally shattered.
You may yawn and say “oh, big deal, 1%, what’s the big whoop?” Well, it may mean that FINALLY some of the Trump Fanatics are realizing their Orange Idol isn’t what he claimed and that some of the train wreck is finally penetrating the bubble. And when his approval is already south of 40%, a loss of even 1% is a big deal — it could mean the difference between the GOP continuing to run interference for him or finally letting him take the heat. It could be the beginning of a path to impeachment if they see that he’s become so toxic that even the hardcores are starting to bail.