Logically, the first option any governing political party should pursue to maintain its hold on power is to do a good job, specifically on issues the public — not just the party base but swing voters — cares about most. By that standard, Donald Trump and the GOP aren’t doing a particularly good job given his poor and ever-eroding job-approval ratings during the 15 months of his second term in office.

What makes the GOP’s record worse is that the president, who dominates his party like no other chief executive ever, has really struggled to identify policy priorities that are within shouting distance of what a majority of voters appear to want. In returning Trump to office, voters made it clear that they’re longing for significantly lower living costs, a stable economy, and stronger border control. Instead, they’re getting rising energy and grocery prices, huge and destabilizing tariffs, a violent mass-deportation initiative, an unwanted and aimless war, and a crusade to make voting harder, to mention just a few of the president’s recent preoccupations. Trump is so far off the obvious path to improved popularity that returning there between now and the midterm elections in November may be impossible.

So now the White House is turning to plan B. The midterm message Team Trump is settling upon, according to CNN, will be music to the president’s ears since it’s based on conflict, lies, and relentless pandering to his base:

Top Trump advisers are plotting an electoral push centered on messaging the midterms as a stark choice between the two parties’ platforms, rather than a direct referendum on the success of Trump’s presidency, according to four people involved in the private planning. …The strategy is driven by internal polling showing that Republicans still hold a trust advantage over the Democratic Party on some key issues, even as Americans have soured on Trump and his performance overall.The Trump team’s plans seem to tacitly acknowledge that the........

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