Most people take issue with Trump over optics, not policy. Not consciously at least. (You have to be affluent and/or connected to benefit financially from Clinton/Bush/Obama/Biden.) But the sad fact is many are not having the cause/effect explained to them. All they see is Trump. https://twitter.com/andrewbecknyc/status/1315440201842425856

Trump is primarily to blame for this, of course. But that’s not who he is. He’s a character! Not a communicator. Pence hasn’t been who he’s needed to be consistently: the well-spoken nice guy who knows the policy and can break it down for everyone (like he did in the debate).

The GOP is next to blame. Yes it’s a hostile media, but you’ve means at your disposal that until the last several months were mostly used to play defense. Dems/media come up with accusations and outrageous claims: you took the bait, like Trump did in the debate with Biden.

Swing and dormant voters might be more discerning than I give them credit for. Change of policies have had direct impact on them. The corporate media being eclipsed by social media has benefited Trump and yet, most of that too is caught up in culture war or the reality TV drama.

Should probably end this thread here and turn it into an article instead. There’s much more to say on how Trump, the GOP, and Co. could be on the verge of squandering every advantage imaginable because they couldn’t control their optics and the conversation.