i think the freakout from regular people - not the punditocracy largely, which was clearly read to pounce - is about how the voters who’ll decide the election perceive him, not about how *we* do
it’s essentially a keynesian beauty pageant from hell
the dc dem meltdown has obviously made it worse but i don’t think it’s unreasonable that there are lots of folks here, who aren’t bret stephens, who watched that debate and are freaked out
This has been the argument I've been hearing (and, in some cases, making). "Sure, the polls are still static *now*, but what about when normies start paying attention? They'll freak out and rush to Trump!"
And, like, maybe? But no one knows!