Everyone agrees the president is weak, but few people understand why. Sure, Donald Trump is a lying, thieving, philandering sadist. That’s never helped his popularity. But I don’t think that alone explains his weakness. I have another theory you might like.

You can’t really be a popular president when you’re leading a party that a dozen years ago turned its back on majoritarian politics. Once you’ve done that—once you’ve voted for a president willing to call other Americans “human scum”—there’s no going back.

If you start as a president of the GOP, you can’t later be president of the United States.

This is part of my take in today’s Editorial Board. I made it free, because that’s the right thing to do in the middle of a disease outbreak. But I can’t do this alone. I need help. Please consider—right now—being a paying subscriber to the Editorial Board!

Thank you! —John Stoehr