Mr. Trump’s advisers said privately that his unexpected rise to power showed that such traditional barometers did not matter as much anymore. Still, the anemic numbers clearly irritated Mr. Trump, who lashed out on Tuesday. “Right now, Trump’s numbers are kryptonite for 21 House Republicans in districts that he lost,” he said. Some Republicans now say Mr. Trump has rewritten the rule book. “In the new Trump world, it has already been proven prima facie absurd to presume personal approval numbers to be more vote-determinative than policy approval.”

Source: New York Times January 18, 2017 02:13 UTC