Joe Henderson: Donald Trump reelection advantages should worry Dems

Preview of coming attractions: Donald Trump’s budget proposal could be a foreshadowing of his strategy for re-election in 2020.

We know that most polling today shows President Donald Trump has a steep climb to win reelection. That assumes, of course, he survives an impeachment attempt, and that’s no sure thing.

But there are a couple of radar blips that should encourage Republicans and scare the bejeebers out of Democrats.

POLITICO reported that the President and the Republican National Committee had raised more than $300 million this year. It’s a staggering number. That is more than any other sitting president at this point in the campaign. Trump has $158 million cash on hand.

“The resources he has will be put to work anywhere and everywhere that he feels like he can scare up electoral votes, and Democrats will never catch up. It’s just too much money,” Democratic strategist Chris Lippincott told POLITICO.

“That’s real trouble … I’m not here to curse the dark, but it’s dark.”

While Democrats argue about how much free stuff to promise voters, Republicans are also going scorched-earth across social media platforms. The New York Times reported that tactic helped rake in more cash as they use sophisticated algorithms to target online sites where sympathetic followers are likely to gather.

Democrats lag far behind in that area so far, and we know what a role social media played in 2016.

And there is a recent report by Moody’s Analytics that shows Trump romping to victory based on a strong economy. The model has missed only once since 1980 (interestingly, it was the last one).

That report shows some ominous news for Democrats. It has Trump winning Michigan, Wisconsin, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Florida, states critical to his victory in 2016.

Impeachment, obviously, is the wild card in all these scenarios. The Times measured how people felt about impeachment in six battleground states: Pennsylvania, Michigan, Florida, North Carolina, Wisconsin, and Arizona.

They favor impeachment by 50-45 percent, but only 43 percent want to see Trump removed from office. And a University of North Florida Public Opinion Research Lab poll found a tight margin on the issue in our state.

All of this should greatly concern Democrats, and I have a theory why. Trump may be crude, boorish, and even inept, but he has stayed competitive a simple reason. The numbers show Democrats still haven’t connected enough with the disaffected voters who turned out for Trump in 2016.

Many of those MAGA true believers believe both mainstream parties abandoned them long ago. They don’t care if Trump isn’t a “true Republican” because they don’t trust the GOP. They also think Democrats only care about taxing them and giving that money to people who won’t work.

And most of them aren’t tuned in to the same nuances of political life that dominate the headlines today. If he bends a few rules, they don’t care. If he says “bull@#$!” at a campaign rally, they call it candor.

The political establishment hears rambling, disjointed gibberish at the President’s rallies, but the believers hear someone talking directly to them.

In much the same way, Joe Biden has stayed at the top of the Democrat field despite his many gaffes. At this point anyway, voters are less concerned about debate performance and more about whether they like a candidate.

And they like Joe Biden.

If Democrats choose a candidate that passes that test, they can overcome Trump’s many advantages. If not, Trump will spend them into oblivion for reelection. He will annihilate them on social media. And he will and ride a strong economy to a second term.

That’s where Trump donors are placing their bets on reelection. It’s up to Democrats to prove they have a message worth voting for because they more to overcome than they want to believe.