news anchor after news anchor reporting about how unpopular Krasnov is, how unpopular his policies are, so fucking what is that going to do? Even my favorites, Nicolle and Rachel are doing it.

Schumer and Jeffries should be out in the streets confronting the Gestapo.

Jason Crow said it yesterday, we need Democrats with courage who want to fight now, not Democrats who want to wait Krasnov out and beat Magats in the next election.

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A handful of righteous people could stop him, but won't. They should be relentlessly covered by the media, followed everywhere, every move tracked, every action dissected for the damage they are doing to the world.

It's such a small handful, hiding behind that dead old carcass.

I don't really buy into the "Trump is going down" clickbait either. But... a president's approval rating, whether he is up for re-election or not, can be a leading indicator of what will happen in the mid-terms. If a president is riding high, there's a greater chance that his party will do better in the mid-terms than if his numbers are poor. It's not a given by any means, but a party's chances are surely better if their president is popular.

So one value to loudly pushing news stories about the president's dismal polling numbers is that as the mid-terms approach, Republicans in Congress who are up for re-election will get more and more nervous. They know that they already have a built-in disadvantage, because historically the party out of power does better in mid-terms. But if the president's approval is tanking, that makes their re-election battle even harder. This increases the chances that they will reach a tipping point where they have to decide whether to break from the president's policies in order to save their own skins (a desperation move).

Many members of Congress will simply bail under these conditions instead of continuing to run for office, so the number of retirements is always worth watching as the mid-terms approach. My understanding is that Republicans are quitting in high numbers this year. It's harder to win a seat when an incumbent is running, so the more retirements, the more chances for flips.

All of which is to say, consider that Trump's approval rating is not only a marker of his popularity, but a number which, as it goes lower, will cause more and more turmoil among Congressional Republicans as the elections get closer. For that reason alone, it's probably worth keeping an eye on.

...

And also let me edit to add -- it was only after I wrote this whole post that I realized you wrote "OTHER THAN IN DOWNBALLOT RACES" in the title of your OP. My bad!

...yeah, it creates "confidence issues" in the Republican party as a whole, heading into the midterms.

I applaud Rachel Maddow's journalism, but I think it's safe to say that every now and then she DOES get that twinkle in her eye when she's about to drop a "juicy scoop," and that's understandable...journalists live for big stories...but I'm more of a "deadpan" guy myself, preferring the more understated approach of a guy like Lawrence O'Donnell. Not criticizing Rachel AT ALL in regard to her reporting. It's the delivery that sometimes isn't my cup of tea.

Part of the reason why I brought this up is I am CONVINCED that on MANY occasions, when Trump directly addresses a concern of the American people, his motivation is NOT to "fix" things and appease the public. He wants the public to SHUT UP, which is how we got that INFAMOUS MOMENT where Kayleigh Whackadoodle breathlessly presented Leslie Stahl with a giant binder full of empty pages and called it Trump's "healthcare plan."

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And, in more recent times, his "address to the nation" where he YELLED about "affordability" and said the only reason why the public believed the "hoax" is that they failed to show him enough appreciation for all he's done.

And, finally, the Nobel Prize debacle...complaining to Netanyahu that he'll never receive the "credit he's due," whining like little baby about wanting the Nobel, now smiling ear-to-ear after Machado buckling to the pressure and giving him his coveted, framed bauble...WITHOUT the actual honor that goes with it.

The ONLY thing Trump EVER DOES when Republicans lose elections is hold it up as "proof" of his big lie, the stolen 2020 election that wasn't stolen.

As he becomes more and more unpopular, the threat of him endorsing a primary opponent becomes less salient.

Potentially enough thugs can be convinced to do the right thing.

I doubt it because they fear the random maga nut job will do some on RWNJ on RWNJ violence and that will silence them. Not fear of the left....fear of wacko on the right with one or more guns.

Not just because he's almost certain to lose control of the House, but because between now and then Republicans are slowly starting to try to push back. The Epstein files vote, the House passing the extended ACA tax subsidies, some defections even though it wasn't enough on the Venezuela vote.

Granted some of that is limited because we have trended towards executive orders instead of laws, but it's still something.