#political-momentum

#political-momentum

The oft-repeated claim that organizers gathered roughly 300,000 signatures on a separation petition rests entirely on statements made by one individual: Mitch Sylvestre. There has been no independent verification, no public audit, and no transparent accounting of the signatures themselves. That uncertainty alone should encourage caution. Yet Mitch's number has dominated public discourse as an accepted fact rather than the unverified political assertion that it is.

Trump is a president with an approval rating below 40 percent. There is little evidence to suggest it will ever rebound much. There may now be a lower floor than in the first term. The Trump administration's savagery in Minneapolis destroyed the popularity he had enjoyed on the issue of immigration. His advantages on the economy are gone, too, as Americans confront a K-shaped recovery that has thrilled the rich while leaving much of the rest of the country with higher costs and a meager job market.

"Trade wars, defence threats and military aggression don't respect borders. More and more Europeans now recognise that their small, individual nations cannot withstand simultaneous pressure from both Washington and Moscow."