ELECTION/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “If President Donald Trump wins reelection in 2020, there will not be lots of people — unlike in 2016 — gasping with surprise at the outcome. But there are plenty of people who remain utterly bewildered by the prospect. How after everything — abysmal polls, the 2018 midterm debacle, this week’s impeachment — is a second term even a possibility? The belief that the usual rules of politics simply do not apply to this president — whether because of political dark arts or some kind of cosmic destiny — is one of the only things that unites Trump loathers and Trump loyalists. But there is no need to look for mystical explanations. There is a path to reelection for a president who never cracks 50 percent approval in polls that is entirely plausible. It’s not because the normal dynamics of politics do not apply to Trump, but because they do.”
–John F. Harris, Alex Isenstadt and Daniel Lippman, “Why Trump’s path to reelection is totally plausible,” Politico, December 16, 2019 5:03 am