POPULARITY AND POLLS DO NOT MATTER

Popularity and Polls Do Not Matter 

The media persists in missing the point. Pundits breathlessly analyze Trump’s poll numbers, approval ratings, and the prospects of midterm congressional victories. But none of that matters. They are still judging Trump as though he were a candidate in a functioning democracy. He is not. He is a dictator in complete control, and dictators don’t worry about popularity contests.

A Dictator’s Mentality

Trump’s focus now is not on elections, approval ratings, or even the future of his party. His calculations revolve around one thing: himself, his power, his survival, and his legacy. He knows no fear of reprisal, no fear of losing office, and no fear of democratic accountability. In his mind, he is permanent. He will remain in power until death, regardless of any election outcome. If he loses, the election will be declared rigged. If he wins, it will be declared a triumph of the people. Either way, the result is predetermined in his favor.

This is the playbook of strongmen throughout history. Elections are proper props to feign legitimacy, but never binding. Institutions are bent, broken, or ignored until they become empty shells. Popularity ratings are shrugged off as lies, concocted by enemies. Only the dictator’s grip on power matters, and Trump has studied this manual well.

The Futility of Polls and Ratings

Why do the media obsess over his sagging popularity or speculate about his ability to “pull out” a midterm victory? These questions are irrelevant. Even if every American turned against him, he would still claim victory. Dictatorship is not measured in votes or surveys but in control, in the subjugation of institutions, and the silence of rivals.

Trump has already torn up the Constitution in spirit, if not on paper. He governs as if checks and balances do not exist. He makes plain that his loyalty is not to the people or to the law but to himself. His party bows to him, his sycophants cheer him, and the machinery of government bends under his will.

The Counter-Movement’s Seed

And yet this is not the end of the story. Every oath every public servant swore was to the Constitution, not to a man. The military, judges, civil servants, and even elected representatives have pledged allegiance not to Trump, but to that foundational document. It is in that fact that the makings of a countermovement exist.

A dictator may declare himself permanent, but permanence is an illusion. History shows us that tyranny breeds resistance. The more Trump strangles democracy, the more Americans will awaken to their duty to the Constitution. The fight is not over ratings or elections, but over allegiance: to the Constitution, or the dictator.

Conclusion

Trump is not playing the game of democracy, so stop keeping score as if he were. He is playing the game of dictatorship, and in his mind, he has already won. The task ahead is not to outpoll him but to outlast him and rekindle allegiance to the Constitution he has betrayed. That oath, still alive in millions of Americans, is the seed of the countermovement that will one day break his grip.

William James Spriggs