10 August 2017
Politico: Trump hits new polling low as base shrinks
Only 40 percent of registered voters approve of the job Trump is doing as president, the new POLITICO/Morning Consult poll shows, down from a high-water mark of 52 percent in March. And the percentage who approve strongly — one way to measure the size of Trump’s most fervent supporters — is also at a new low: just 18 percent.
That fits with other surveys conducted over the past few weeks, all of which show Trump at or near the low-water marks for each pollster. And there is evidence Trump’s backslide has eroded some of his electoral base: The president has lost ground with Republicans and the independent voters who propelled him to victory. [...]
Overall, just 41 percent of voters who say they supported Trump last year strongly approve of the job he is doing, equal to the 41 percent who approve only somewhat. Ten percent of Trump voters disapprove of his job performance somewhat, while 7 percent strongly disapprove. [...]
The Investor’s Business Daily/TIPP poll notes that Trump has lost significant ground with core groups over the past month. Trump’s approval rating is down 12 percentage points since July among Republicans, even as it was relatively unchanged from already-low records among Democrats and Republicans. Trump’s decline in the Midwest (minus-7 points) is larger than the overall 5-point drop in his approval, as was his 7-point dip among white men.
Al Jazeera: Will Brazil be the next Venezuela?
In fact, it is possible that Venezuela will become "the next Brazil". Recent developments suggest that the traditional Brazilian elites have regained their ground and are currently taking measures to entrench their rule. And as Nicolas Maduro's government faces instability, it is likely that in the future Venezuelans will wake up to a Brazilian-style oligarchy ruling their country.
In 1958, three major political parties in Venezuela signed a pact called "the Punto Fijo" to "preserve the country's new democratic regime and prevent single party hegemony". Yet the pact transformed Venezuela into an oligarchical paradise and ushered in a period of exclusionary politics in which the political system - and the president's office - was dominated by the elites from the leading political parties.
This plan did work well for almost three decades. Venezuela, which had had no fewer than 25 national constitutions up to 1961, suddenly became a "stable democracy" in the heart of troublesome Cold War South America. The developmental model adopted by its leaders, which was fuelled by the abundant money flowing from oil exports, transformed the Caribbean nation into a relatively successful rentier state. [...]
At the same time, the judicial system is nowhere near reigning in the pervasive corruption. Last week, the National Congress of Brazil absolved President Michel Temer of corruption charges and allowed him to continue his ill-supported mandate.
And Brazilians are stuck with Temer although an overwhelming majority of them want him out (just 5 percent approve of his government). The congress would simply not listen to the wishes of the public that elected it. This is "business as usual" for Brazil's powerful.
Al Jazeera: When anti-Semitism and Islamophobia join hands
But today, Orban has no words of gratitude for Soros. Rather, he has launched a vicious campaign against his former benefactor. And while his aggressive rhetoric is verging on anti-Semitism, the Hungarian prime minister has also - strangely enough - managed to weave in Islamophobic threads into his verbal attacks on Soros. And surprisingly (or not), this symbiosis of anti-Semitism and Islamophobia has been well received elsewhere in Europe and even the US.
Although Orban is said not to be anti-Semitic himself but rather deeply opportunistic, he has turned his former benefactor Soros into the ideal scapegoat for the Hungarian government's failures. Pushing for illiberal policies and anti-EU reforms, Orban has been using Soros' name in his populist rhetoric on a regular basis. He has been pandering to anti-Soros conspiracy theorists in Eastern and Central Europe, many of whom hold anti-Semitic views and enthusiastically spread their theories about "Jewish conspiracies" to dominate the world. [...]
While propagating anti-Semitic stereotypes, Orban has also managed to accuse Soros and the EU of wanting to "Muslimise" Europe. In a speech in late July, he said that the "Soros Empire" is using "money, people and institutions to transport migrants into Europe".
In Orban's rhetoric, Soros - and his alleged "co-conspirator" the EU - threaten the Christian character of Europe. "Europe is currently being prepared to hand its territory over to a new mixed, Islamised Europe. […] In order for this to happen, for the territory to be ready to be handed over, it is necessary to continue the de-Christianisation of Europe - and we can see these attempts," he said. [...]
Historically, Jews and Muslims have faced similar accusations, racist tropes and persecution. Western Europeans used both as a projection surface to imagine itself as racially pure, white and Christian. In medieval times, Jews were accused of well-poisoning to kill Christians and Muslims - of inciting them to do so. During the Reformation, Jews were portrayed as the companions of the devil who had entered into a pact with the Muslim Turks.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)