PERSPECTIVE FROM THE 19^TH HOLE:  This is the title I chose for my personal blog, which is meant to give me an outlet for one of my favorite crafts – writing – plus to use an image from my favorite sport, golf.  Out of college, my first job was as a reporter for the Daily Astorian in Astoria, Oregon, and I went on from there to practice writing in all of my professional positions, including as press secretary in Washington, D.C. for a Democrat Congressman from Oregon, as an Oregon state government manager in Salem and Portland, as press secretary for Oregon’s last Republican governor (Vic Atiyeh), and as a private sector lobbyist.  This blog also allows me to link another favorite pastime – politics and the art of developing public policy – to what I write.

For the life of me, I cannot believe it.

If reports on presidential polling numbers are accurate, Trump’s approval rating has gone up during the coronavirus pandemic.  Perhaps the numbers are up because of some kind of “rally around the flag” inclination as Americans contend with coronavirus which puts the country on a war-time like footing.

But, higher numbers?  Incredible?

How could some Americans look past Trump’s exaggerations, lies and narcissism to give him high marks.  The reality is that many of his actions have made things worse, not better – and he performed very poorly again yesterday in a long press conference which, like his others, was littered with inaccuracies and exaggerations.  Mercifully, several outlets, including MSNBC and CNN, cut away from the briefing to avoid transmitting more of Trump’s distortions.

Miami Herald columnist Leonard Pitts described poll number increases last week in a piece that appeared under this headline, “It’s amazing — America’s deceiver-in-chief still has so many true believers:”

To understand the depth of Trump’s lying or idiocy, all you have to do, according to Pitts, is look at what he has said:

“We have it totally under control. It’s going to be just fine.”

Donald Trump, Jan. 22, 2020

“One day — it’s like a miracle — it will disappear.”

Donald Trump, Feb. 27, 2020

“Anybody that wants a test can get a test.”

Donald Trump, March 6, 2020

“No, I don’t take responsibility at all.”

Donald Trump, March 13, 2020

And yet, many Americans still believe in Trump.

Pitts continues:   “There are those who whine about how the ‘fake news’ reporters are being mean to Trump when they call him to account for bungling the coronavirus pandemic.  There are those who think the real illness is ‘Trump Derangement Syndrome:’  An inability to appreciate the genius of a man who is, as presidents go, ‘the best one we’ve had.’

“As has often been argued in this space, reasoning with Trump believers is a waste of time.  They lack the willingness and the capacity.  But one still can’t help marveling at their ability, at this late date and with their lives on the line, to continue to deny the evidence of their senses.”

As for the poll numbers themselves, 49 percent of U.S. adults, up from 44 per cent earlier this month, approve of the job Trump is doing as president.  Trump also had 49 per cent job approval ratings — the best of his presidency — in late January and early February around the time of the Senate impeachment trial that resulted in his acquittal.

To repeat, I cannot understand how his actions and blather translate into political approval?

Just the other day, Trump said he would withhold certain types of coronavirus aid to the State of Michigan because the governor there, Gretchen Whitmer, had harsh words for him as president.  Earlier, Trump called Washington Governor Jay Inslee a “snake” because Inslee didn’t bow at Trump’s altar.

In summary, Trump’s actions have boiled down to exaggerations, out and out lies, and imparting his flawed perspective to burnish his political standing rather than to protect the country.  No surprise.  It’s what a narcissist does.  And, many Americans appear ready to salute.

Incredible!