Supporters of Donald Trump don't need my help to feel uneasy about this week's poll numbers. Vice President Joe Biden has a double-digit lead in two major polls, and holds leads in just about all of the battleground states as well.
I know, I know, Hillary Clinton had a big lead at about this time four years ago and look how that turned out.
Got it.
However, Trump's victory in 2016 required him to run the table in places like North Carolina, and Pennsylvania, and Michigan, and Wisconsin, which he did by the thinnest possible margins.
Could he do that again?
Sure. But, as the old saying goes (and we've used this before) "The battle may not go to the strong, nor the race to the strong; but, that's the way to bet.
Indeed, the first of two polls released this past week, the Quinnipiac University poll showed (according to Fox News)
"presumptive Democratic nominee [Joe Biden] with 52 percent support among registered voters, with Trump at 37 percent support."
Minus 15 for Trump.
A day later, a poll published by NBC News and the Wall Street Journal showed (according to NBC.com)
"Fifty-one percent are backing Joe Biden in the horserace, versus 40 percent for Trump."
Minus 11 for Trump. Better than the Q poll, but not enough to break out the champaign in the political office at the White House.
A huge drag on Donald Trump's numbers is, of course, this COVID-19 pandemic. Over 138,000 Americans have died since early February.
The economy (if not the major Wall Street Averages) is in the dumper. Tens of millions of Americans are out of work and with the latest spate of outbreaks, according to CNBC.com,
"Nearly half of the [U.S.] population is still out of a job showing just how far the U.S. labor market has to heal."
So, what's an incumbent President running for reelection do do?
If you're Donald Trump, you look for someone to blame it on.
Who's available?
Well, if your terrible numbers are due to the pandemic let's see who we can blame that on.
Dr. Anthony Fauci? Yes. Could be a good choice. Let's send out our Trade Advisor, Peter Navarro, to do battle with the infectious disease guru and see how it goes.
It goes … badly. Two-thirds of Americans trust Dr. Fauci on coronavirus information. About one-third trust Trump. No one trusts Navarro because no one knows (or cares) who he is.
Let's go right to Joe Biden. Let's tell people he's been hiding out in his basement bunker.
Arrggh. According to that dreaded Q poll, "On the coronavirus response, Biden leads 59 - 35 percent."
Not only that, but saying Biden is hiding out in his basement bunker only serves to remind everyone about the day Trump was hustled into the bunker in the basement of the White House during the demonstrations on Lafayette Square.
Ok. Who's left. Deborah Birx? Nah. The whole scarf thing.
That leaves one person: Mike Pence. Vice President of these United States.
He's had one job: Manage the message (if not the actual response) on the pandemic and he's wasted his chance.
Pence has started every sentence with "At the perfect direction of our glorious leader …" (or words to that effect) which Trump will certainly decide was code for Pence trying to place the blame on Trump.
The solution? Dump Pence.
Not from the Coronavirus Task Force. Leave him there to, in the words of Watergate felon John Ehrlichman, "twist slowly, slowly in the wind."
Just before the Republican National Convention make Pence announce he is taking himself off the ticket and is, instead, endorsing Nikki Haley to run as Trump's Vice President in his stead.
Starting today, if I were Pence, I would take no phone calls from Jared Kushner.
Haley is a former Governor (of South Carolina). Former Ambassador (to the UN). Signed the legislation removing the Confederate flag from the State Capitol. And, she's a woman.
The only real knock against her in Trump-ville (and I am not kidding about this) is her mention in a 2016 Time Magazine piece as one of the 100 most influential women in the world.
No one, but Trump, is perfect.
So, if you want something out of the Veep's office, I would guess you've got about three weeks to get it.
Pence will become a lame duck about the middle of August.
That's when Trump throws his Haley Mary pass to try and save his election.
On the Secret Decoder Ring page today: Links to the Fox News poll review and to Nikki Haley's bio.
The Mullfoto today the 2nd best "buddy picture" of all time.
® 
