CNN agape as their poll shows Trump approval jumping to 11 month high, GOP midterm hopes slowly brighten

I would love to have been in the CNN newsroom when these numbers came in. They've burned months of airtime on scandal after scandal, negative story and negative story, all in an endless quest to make the country despise Donald Trump. You're supposed to hate him. He's supposed to disgust you. His approval numbers are supposed to be down in the low 20s. Heck, he was supposed to be impeached by now. Instead, his numbers just jumped to an 11-month high. The best efforts of CNN, MSNBC, ABC, NBC, and CBS have amounted to...not much.

Via CNN:

President Donald Trump's approval rating has rebounded to its highest level since the 100-day mark of his presidency, according to a new CNN poll conducted by SSRS, even as his approval ratings for handling major issues remain largely negative. Overall, 42% approve of the way Trump is handling the presidency, 54% disapprove. Approval is up 7 points overall since February, including 6-point increases among Republicans (from 80% to 86% now) and independents (from 35% to 41% now). Trump's approval rating remains below that of all of his modern-era predecessors at this stage in their first term after being elected, though Trump only trails Ronald Reagan and Barack Obama by a narrow 4 points at this point in their first terms.

OK, let's be up front about this. 42% isn't exactly stellar. Any President would like that number to be higher. However, it's not exactly terrible either. Here's why:

1. As CNN says, he's not too far off the pace set by Obama and Reagan - both two-term Presidents whose popularity grew throughout their first four years and led to easy second term victories. ...And remember, this is CNN. You should reasonably expect them to spin their data and phrase their questions in the most Trump-damning way possible.

2. He's managing to stay close to their numbers despite a staggering amount of overwhelmingly negative press. In fact, I'd argue that there's never been a President who's been forced to function with such a violently hateful attack-machine levelled against him. The press may not have liked Bush, Bush, and Reagan, but the (admittedly terrible) treatment they received wasn't anywhere near the level of constant vitriol the media is aiming at Trump.
3. The full effects of Trump's policies - positive or negative - have yet to be felt. If the economy keeps gaining steam, you can bet that number will continue to climb.

One look at the puzzled muggs on CNN and you'll know they're baffled by all of this. So far, they've thrown Russia, porn stars, mean tweets, and the threat of World War III with North Korea at the President and - for some reason - his numbers aren't tanking. In fact, the GOP overall is enjoying a slow-but-steady uptick on the generic ballot. Yes, they're still underwater, but if Trump and the congressional GOP are really so despised, shouldn't that number be headed the other way? Despite all the media's best efforts, Republican prospects for the midterms are actually improving. As you'll see in the clip below, CNN decides to ignore ALL of this to focus on the fact that 63% of respondents believe that Trump was indeed having affairs with porn stars and models. The point they're missing is that it won't particularly matter to most people.

Sure, they believe it. They believed it before they voted for him, and nothing has changed. Literally no one went into their polling place and cast a ballot for Donald Trump while believing him to be a Saint. Everyone knows who Trump is, everyone knows what he was before he ran for office, and I can't imagine anyone being surprised by any of these so-called "revelations." So, if the best weapon CNN has is to say "ignore the economic news and focus on these porn stars," well, as I said on Twitter a few weeks ago....

Man. All those factory and steel workers who switched parties to vote for Trump sure will be upset to learn he slept with a porn star. #Caring

— Robert Laurie (@RobertLaurie) March 12, 2018

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