The increasingly popular term “Trump Anxiety” started going around back in January, when a Washington Post/ABC News poll reported that 69 percent of Americans were made to feel either very or somewhat anxious about the idea of Donald Trump becoming president. But that was January, before it became clear that the 69 percent in question were really just 690 people out of 1,001 in a telephone poll.
Since then, the Trump Anxiety index has been a ping-pong match, creeping up as his viability rises a few points, then down a few, relative to Hillary Clinton’s perceived scandalousness, and in contrast to whichever inane, venal thing he said last.
On September 22, shortly after the one-two punch of Clinton’s pneumonia and “basket of deplorables,” and Trump’s assertion that she lacks the “mental and physical stamina” to be president, NBC News/Wall Street Journal had her leading 43 percent to 37 percent.
On September 26, just before the first debate, FiveThirtyEight had Trump at 51.9 percent to Clinton’s 48.1 percent. On October 11, just days after Trump’s “grab them by the pussy” scandal (Twattergate? Iran Cuntra? G-Spot Dome?), Clinton was up 52 percent to 38 percent.
On November 1, after the news that the FBI may or may not be investigating e-mails that may or may not have had something to do with Clinton, nearly every major news outlet reported a 45 to 44 dead heat. The only disagreement was over who had the one-point advantage.
Knowing that these unscientific numbers represent the only hope of quantifying the great uncertainty of how our fellow Americans intend to vote, it’s natural to obsessively follow them—even as their constant, low-level fluctuation makes you want to jump off a fucking bridge.
