Even the Democrats admitted that they weren't listening and that in part that led to their overall defeat. But of course, they were listening--to each other, to other career public employees, to media fanboys and fangirls--Democrats simply weren't listening to many other people.
And so it's ridiculous that Democratic manipulators from Vox to the Washington Post, this week in January (1/26/2017) with the egg not yet off their faces from their "reporting" of Clinton's win in October, (Vox, October 27, 2016 "solid Hillary Clinton Victory," and the Washington Post, October 16, 2016, Hillary Clinton "ahead in nearly all of the key battleground states,") are mocking President Trump for his concern about popularity. Why on Earth would they not want a US President to be concerned about popularity?
Of course Presidents are concerned about popularity, just not when they know that they can't use that popularity to leverage votes for another term--and thus we got Obama, loose cannon, cloistered thinker, lecturing all of America about his point of view and leaving us unable to do anything but watch as some of the cherished values of America unfolded into an insane flurry of non-prioritized reasoning that produced things like worrying about Michelle Obama's garden instead of the slashing of food stamps or climate jeopardy that still has not inspired Millenials struggling with the rightfully prioritized concerns of jobs, low-pay, and affordable housing into the arms of electric car sellers.
When it came to Obamacare, again it was the Democrats' inability to LISTEN to those who disagreed that put us in jeopardy. They were listening to insurers who obtained the White House consent to the deal with the devil that removed all influence of consumers from determining how OUR money is spent regarding OUR health, instead imposing tax-penalties on working citizens who failed to buy the commercial financial product of health insurance.
So yes, Donald Trump's concern with popularity is significant especially if it hopefully does what Vox worries about and sensible consumers should hope for: "…if Congressional Republicans are unwilling to challenge him, Trump will have a lot of free reign as president," "Why Trump could be a popular president, and how to prevent him from becoming one," Lee Drutman, Dec. 19, 2016.
Let's face it, MILLIONS of people voted Donald Trump in because he's NOT as nutty as some of today's long-time public employee Congress members, including and now especially the Republican ones. The last thing Republicans like the Obama Republican counterpart of Paul Ryan should be given is the false "credit" for getting Republicans in power again. He's an "IN SPITE OF," not a "BECAUSE OF."
So watch for the trickery when it comes to health insurance law, Democrats. Instead of criticizing a President who shows concern for what America's thinking (Yay by the way), focus on the continued sleazy spin and contemptuous misleading style of our finally departed President Obama when it comes to health care in the US.
Continuous coverage is the private version of the individual mandate that PENALIZES people for not having health insurance. While purchasing health insurance is necessary in our healthcare industry, forcing people to purchase it is forcing them and removes the consumer authority to vote with our dollars and our feet.
Support legislation that requires passing the financial benefits of cost-cutting to consumers which now only benefit providers (under Obamacare) where they get government ATTABOY cash rewards (and insurance company cash rewards). Where are the concerned Democrats who might put some effort and pressure into making sure they're heard about that by a President who at least for now is listening?
Outcome based medicine which sounds sensible has been bastardized into CMS's end of life counseling where we have doctors, you know those contributors to medical error as the third leading cause of death in this country, being paid to put on their psychic scarves and try to discourage patients from trying possible treatments for reasons including costs because their "odds" aren't good AND those docs are getting PAID by Medicare for providing that advice. Since that's a CMS rule, that's got to be done away with in addition to the Obamacare mess.
And then there's Obamacare's encouragement of the consumer-unfriendly strategy of defensive medicine--where providers cover their own butts with unnecessary testing often against consumer wishes that is now pushed as "preventative" forcing people to undergo a series of barrier imposing "pre-checks" before getting the simplest care. Our bodies, our money, our choice.
The anti-consumer government-insurance company paying strategies promise to be overlooked by public employees who handily effectively exempted themselves from getting down to reality with the "other" Americans, so where is the Democratic focus on the sheer insanity of a Congress using our money for their superior benefits explaining why everyone else has to tighten their belt? Naturally any law they come up with must apply to public employees FIRST, not never. That's a consumer protection.
Instead, the Democrats are lazily keeping the President in their sights and once again are not listening--Donald Trump was at least in part elected because of his differences from Obama's policies and Clinton's promises to continue and further entrench those policies. Donald Trump was at least in part elected BECAUSE he differs from some of the Republican nuts in Congress who have made that the party of losing.
Yes, our President should be concerned with popularity and we should celebrate that for now he's listening.
