President Trump’s rollout of his new and “unconventional” reelection campaign shows that he is “clearly back in the game,” according to pollster John Zogby.
For our weekly White House Report Card, the Democratic pollster gave Trump an A- for the week and said that the president used the virtual Republican National Convention “to change the focus of the conversation to his talking points: unprecedented growth before COVID-19, more new jobs in four years than ever before, more Hispanics and blacks working than ever, standing up to China, a Middle East peace deal, and so on.”
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Co-grader Jed Babbin, a conservative analyst, graded a B+ and called the president’s second-term agenda “a good one.”
John Zogby
Grade A-
Trump had a good week. He may not often look or act like a president, but the White House always does — and the White House was the star of the week.
The president and his supporters were able, at least for the week, to change the focus of the conversation to his talking points: unprecedented growth before COVID-19, more new jobs in four years than ever before, more Hispanic and black people working than ever, standing up to China, a Middle East peace deal, and so on. His most effective pitch was about prison reform, and Alice Johnson may have been the most visible and credible persona of the week.
He aimed to reframe the discussion on race and police brutality to law and order in an effort to bring white suburban mothers, voters over 65, and others deeply concerned about violence and rage in the streets, including blacks and Hispanics.
It may not work, but initial polls after the convention show a tighter race nationally and an even closer race in several battleground states. What is most striking is that Trump’s strategy is once again unconventional, seeking to divide and splinter instead of heal and unite. He is clearly back in the game.
Jed Babbin
Grade B+
Presidential candidates are supposed to get a post-convention bounce, a small, sharp rise in the polls after the convention that nominated them formally. But this is 2020, when nothing is normal. Joe Biden didn’t get a post-convention bounce after the Democrats’ dour snore fest: His bounce showed up in Trump’s polling numbers. That’s just plain weird. Now, after the Republican convention, it’s a dead heat.
— Mike Pence (@Mike_Pence) August 29, 2020
Trump’s second-term agenda was finally published (independent of the party platform, which is already forgotten), and it’s a good one, full of promises on healthcare, immigration, and a continuation of Trump’s “America First” policies. After months of riots (tolerated by Democratic governors and mayors), Biden is finally getting to a Rodney King-like “Can’t we all get along?” message, mewing against the continued BLM riots around the nation without actually criticizing the rioters. Compare that to Vice President Mike Pence’s strong law-and-order message in his convention speech (Pence said they’d never defund the police and always back “the Blue”), and you have another strong, significant issue for Trump and Pence to run on. Unhappily for the Democrats, they’re the party of anarchy and disorder.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is trying to excuse Biden from debating Trump. Biden can’t refuse to debate Trump because Biden’s mental health is clearly an issue, and he can’t otherwise prove he can put words together to make understandable sentences. The debates, which begin around the end of September, could be the end of Biden’s run.
John Zogby is the founder of the Zogby Poll and senior partner at John Zogby Strategies. His weekly podcast with son and partner Jeremy Zogby can be heard here. Follow him on Twitter @TheJohnZogby
Jed Babbin is a Washington Examiner contributor and former deputy undersecretary of defense in the administration of former President George H.W. Bush. Follow him on Twitter @jedbabbin
