Publisher's notebook
Hang on to your seats
Publisher Bruce Trogdon
By the time you read this column, Donald J. Trump will have become the 45th President of The United States. With approval ratings below 50 percent, he will enter the office with one of the lowest approval ratings of all time. History has shown, however, that how you start out doesn't necessarily reflect how you finish.
On the eve of his inauguration, a recent ABC News - Washington Post poll says 44 percent of Americans believe Trump is qualified to serve as president, compared with 52 percent who say he is not. The only good news in the poll for Trump is that the 52 percent figure is the lowest since he became a candidate. Roughly four in five Republicans think he is qualified and about the same ratio of Democrats say he is not. Independents (whoever they are) are almost evenly divided on the question.
If we learned anything from the election, however, I would say it is that we shouldn't trust the polls that much. I mean, even Trump didn't think he was going to win until about 9 p.m. on election night!
According to the Gallup poll, only 40 percent view Trump favorably. Compare that to Bill Clinton's 66 percent favorability and George W. Bush at 62 percent. Pre-inauguration figures for Barack Obama were 78 percent!
Keeping in mind that polls are not always all that accurate and online ones can be even less so, The Post has nonetheless been doing our own online polling to gauge the attitudes of the people in our own locale. Last week the question was: Do you think America is better off after eight years of President Obama?
The leading answer was: "Definitely not, all eight years were a complete train wreck" - a whopping 41.8 percent of our readers voted that way. Obviously, a high amount of optimism pre-inauguration doesn't always guarantee success. "Overall yes, although I don't agree with every decision he made" - was next at 21.5 percent. The answer "Absolutely, his policies have helped America stay the greatest nation in the world" finished in third at 21.3 percent. "Overall no, but I do think he had a few good ideas" finished with 15.4 percent.
Adding it up, the two thumbs down responses on Obama garnered 57.2 percent in our poll while the two positive responses to him totaled 42.8 percent. The poll must have been fairly accurate because that is very close to how local people voted in the November election.
This week we are asking about Trump. The poll question is: What type of president will Donald Trump be? Go to wadsworthpost.com to help us find out.
In the end I admit that I voted like most of our readers: train wreck.
Like many other Midwesterners, I ended up very disappointed by Obama so I reluctantly had to go with train wreck. Particularly on foreign policy. But to me the biggest disaster was that the country ended up so much more divided. I do think that the president bears a lot of the fault. But I am very afraid that Trump is only going to make it worse.
Like Obama, he comes into office controlling all three branches of government. I am also impressed with the fact that many of his appointments are not yes men. Particularly Gen. James Mattis at defense.
Trump and Obama are opposites in so many ways, but what worries me is the one thing that they seem to have in common: their egos. I really think Obama got carried away with his own self importance and made the mistake of not trying to be president for all of America. Trump looks to me like he could be even worse in this regard.
Personally, I will give Trump the benefit of the doubt at first, like I did Obama. Most good businessmen surround themselves with smart people and have the good sense to take counsel from those around them.
Will Trump? If he does, he could be more successful than many of his detractors think. If he does not and runs the country the way he runs his mouth on Twitter...?
Count me as cynical on that one. The liberals are already in lockstep against him, he is not going to change their minds. But his biggest threat will not be them - it will come from his own party. If he gets too full of himself and is Twitter Trump instead of Businessman Trump, his own party will desert him when the long knives come out.
Ask Julius Caesar about his alleged last words to his friend Brutus. "Et tu, Brute?"
On the eve of his inauguration, a recent ABC News - Washington Post poll says 44 percent of Americans believe Trump is qualified to serve as president, compared with 52 percent who say he is not. The only good news in the poll for Trump is that the 52 percent figure is the lowest since he became a candidate. Roughly four in five Republicans think he is qualified and about the same ratio of Democrats say he is not. Independents (whoever they are) are almost evenly divided on the question.
If we learned anything from the election, however, I would say it is that we shouldn't trust the polls that much. I mean, even Trump didn't think he was going to win until about 9 p.m. on election night!
According to the Gallup poll, only 40 percent view Trump favorably. Compare that to Bill Clinton's 66 percent favorability and George W. Bush at 62 percent. Pre-inauguration figures for Barack Obama were 78 percent!
Keeping in mind that polls are not always all that accurate and online ones can be even less so, The Post has nonetheless been doing our own online polling to gauge the attitudes of the people in our own locale. Last week the question was: Do you think America is better off after eight years of President Obama?
The leading answer was: "Definitely not, all eight years were a complete train wreck" - a whopping 41.8 percent of our readers voted that way. Obviously, a high amount of optimism pre-inauguration doesn't always guarantee success. "Overall yes, although I don't agree with every decision he made" - was next at 21.5 percent. The answer "Absolutely, his policies have helped America stay the greatest nation in the world" finished in third at 21.3 percent. "Overall no, but I do think he had a few good ideas" finished with 15.4 percent.
Adding it up, the two thumbs down responses on Obama garnered 57.2 percent in our poll while the two positive responses to him totaled 42.8 percent. The poll must have been fairly accurate because that is very close to how local people voted in the November election.
This week we are asking about Trump. The poll question is: What type of president will Donald Trump be? Go to wadsworthpost.com to help us find out.
In the end I admit that I voted like most of our readers: train wreck.
Like many other Midwesterners, I ended up very disappointed by Obama so I reluctantly had to go with train wreck. Particularly on foreign policy. But to me the biggest disaster was that the country ended up so much more divided. I do think that the president bears a lot of the fault. But I am very afraid that Trump is only going to make it worse.
Like Obama, he comes into office controlling all three branches of government. I am also impressed with the fact that many of his appointments are not yes men. Particularly Gen. James Mattis at defense.
Trump and Obama are opposites in so many ways, but what worries me is the one thing that they seem to have in common: their egos. I really think Obama got carried away with his own self importance and made the mistake of not trying to be president for all of America. Trump looks to me like he could be even worse in this regard.
Personally, I will give Trump the benefit of the doubt at first, like I did Obama. Most good businessmen surround themselves with smart people and have the good sense to take counsel from those around them.
Will Trump? If he does, he could be more successful than many of his detractors think. If he does not and runs the country the way he runs his mouth on Twitter...?
Count me as cynical on that one. The liberals are already in lockstep against him, he is not going to change their minds. But his biggest threat will not be them - it will come from his own party. If he gets too full of himself and is Twitter Trump instead of Businessman Trump, his own party will desert him when the long knives come out.
Ask Julius Caesar about his alleged last words to his friend Brutus. "Et tu, Brute?"