I keep wondering if some of what he does that looks like political suicide, or at least a self inflicted wound, is in fact an intentional strategy.
For example, he puts out the travel ban/moratorium, and while that's a white hot issue he puts out his SCOTUS pick. I don't know if it's just that Trump is a guy who is just going to be always doing 30 things at once, and not really thinking about the interactions, or if he intentionally is putting so much out there so fast that there's simply no way to laser in on more than a couple of things and mount an opposition politically and socially.
So while everyone is all over the visa issue, the GOP is in the Senate working on the Gorsuch nomination with little news coverage, and without the constant news cycle of smears that started with the Bork nomination. The GOP can focus on those 10 at risk Senators, and while no doubt liberal groups will also target them, there won't be the big national wash job smear campaign like it would be if the visa thing weren't in the forefront.
Not to mention all the other stuff out there like the order to start the wall, etc.
IMO it's some of both. He's no fool, he did win the Presidency in pretty stunning fashion, but he's also clearly impatient and a hard charger in every way. So it to me is some of both, but it will have the benefit of always keeping the opposition on defense. And by opposition I mean the Democrats, the liberal groups and the bureaucracy in Washington that in no way wants their little swimming pool to be drained.
The test will be how much of it gets actually done. we'll know in 4-6 months how the approach is working.
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