There really are only two types of campaigns. When you have a record to run on, you make it about yourself. And when your record is terrible, you make it about your opponent.
Joe Lockhart is a CNN political analyst. He was the White House press secretary from 1998-2000 in President Bill Clinton’s administration. He co-hosts the podcast «Words Matter.» The opinions expressed in this commentary are his own. View more opinion at CNN. The picture of every Yankee and National player kneeling for the national anthem on the long-delayed opening day of baseball highlighted just how badly President Donald Trump is losing the culture war, a war he started as his only path to getting reelected. Doug Sosnik, one of the top political analysts in America, framed it in this colorful way: «Watching Donald Trump running for reelection is like watching an old Austin Powers movie. Both Austin and Trump walk around without a shred of self-awareness, without a clue as to how the world has changed around them. Trump is starring in a rerun of his 2016 campaign in a different country than the one that elected him president.» Joe Lockhart The polling numbers from WSJ/NBC News, the Pew Research Center and Gallup tell the story of why Trump needs an ideological culture war to win this election. Eighty percent of Americans believe the country is out of control,65% think the coronavirus is getting worse, only 19% of Republican voters are satisfied with the way things are going in our country,72% of all voters believe the country is on the wrong track, Trump’s job approval can barely break 40% driven by the public dissatisfaction of his handling of the coronavirus and Joe Biden holds a steady and significant lead in all public polls. Every quantitative signal and historical precedent points to a surefire loss for the President in November. Now, most people looking at the numbers 99 days out, including me, made the same judgment in 2016 — Trump couldn’t win. He trailed in most public polls for the entire general election and he did lose the national popular vote, yet he was elected with a solid electoral college victory. Read More Just like fashion changed for Austin Powers, America and our view of Trump have changed radically since 2016. First, we have a public health crisis the likes of which we have not seen in more than 100 years.
