There’s nothing those inside the beltway love more than a good White House “palace intrigue” story. It’s the kind of stuff that DC’s gossip driven culture is built for. But, what about folks who don’t live here and who have real lives? Do they really care about the Steve Bannon/Jared Kushner battles? Will it matter in the long term? Is it taking a toll on the President and his agenda? Here’s what I think matters—and what doesn’t. 1. Republicans don’t like Bannon as much as Democrats detest him. In the past, normal people had zero recognition of—nonetheless an opinion about—the top staffers in the White House. But, that has changed in this uber polarized, personality-driven, cable TV era. A recent SurveyMonkey poll taken March 31-April 5, found Steve Bannon’s favorable/unfavorable ratings deep underwater at 20 percent favorable to 42 percent unfavorable. A little more than a third (34 percent) didn’t know enough about him to have an opinion. Not surprisingly, Democrats don’t like him - he has a 69 percent unfavorable rating to just 5 percent favorable—while Republicans do (49

More from the Cook Political Report

Archives1984-2022
Free
CPR Archives
dw