ANALYSIS — With the Democratic presidential contest suspended, President Donald Trump appearing daily at briefings and former Vice President Joe Biden largely invisible, it wouldn’t be surprising if the president’s job approval numbers ticked up. That’s exactly what usually happens when the “rally around the flag” effect kicks in.
In times of crisis, Americans rally behind the president, who invariably stands as a symbol of national pride and unity. They place country above party, even putting aside their ideological differences. That’s what happened after September 11, during the Persian Gulf War in 1991 and during the Cuban Missile Crisis of late 1962.
The result in each of those cases was a spike in the president’s job performance numbers, invariably by more than 10 points, often by 20 or 30 points or more. Continue reading.