GRADING OUR PRESIDENT.

David Bahnsen submits his report card.  "I think there are areas in which he deserves an A+ (judges and life), a B (taxes), a C (China), a D (foreign policy), and an F (spending). That, my friends, is not a 4.0 GPA – it is about a 2.5. Better than Obama. Better than Hilary [c.q.]. Better than Biden. But in policy only, a 2.5, not a 4.0."  Is a B-/C+ good enough to get a second term?  You decide.  Note, there's no grade for "managing the response to the Wuhan coronavirus."

With everything I have said above, you may conclude that my criticisms of some policy, some personnel, and some personal character, that I would not vote for him. But the fact of the matter is that if I lived in a battleground state, I could and I likely would. Some of my dear conservative friends disagree with me here, and that is okay. And this is sort of the bottom line of my whole article. It is time we have a little empathy for those who feel they must vote for Trump, considering the alternative; and it is time some of you have a little empathy for those who feel they can’t vote for Trump, considering … There is ample prima facie support for both positions where just the tiniest amount of grace and understanding are present. After the election I will write substantially more about this, but the most impassioned among us are not ready to hear it yet. All I can say is I understand why a conservative would not vote for him, and I understand why one would. I do not believe either conclusion can be called wrong in the spectrum of options available to a thoughtful voter.

But I would have 100x more understanding of the pro-Trump voter if it was accompanied by skepticism, criticism, and eye rolls. What I learned the last four years is that “the lesser of two evils” does not stay there; once one says, “he’s better than Hilary [c.q.],” it is an inevitable slope towards defending the indefensible. And I want to publicly say that President Trump has never done anything in his life or presidency that has grieved me as much as seeing conservatives defend what they know cannot be defended – all from a starting point of, “he’s better than Hilary.” They are right, by the way – the country is better off with his petulance and incompetence and three Supreme Court nominees than it would be with Hilary [c.q.] and her competent execution of an evil ideological agenda.

There is much more at the link. On the other hand, this being in part an economics weblog, we have Business Insider's Anthony L. Fisher suggesting Republican professionals are skeptical.  "Republicans have marched in lockstep with President Donald Trump ever since he ripped out the free-market-supporting, limited-government-espousing soul of the GOP in 2016, replacing it with a proudly ignorant, willfully sadistic, ultranationalist populism."  Whether that is the Swamp rendering its verdict, or an accurate characterization of Our President's style is up to voters to decide.

This year, the bundles being compared are petulance and incompetence and a list of nominees to the judiciary on the Trump side, and who knows what kind of execution of what parts of the Democrats' ideological agenda from Mr Biden and Mrs Harris.