Editorial: Chaotic driver can hit vote road spikes

The violence and potential violence in America has been shocking – if not surprising.

A Donald Trump-supporting suspect is in custody over the bomb threats that targeted Democrat leaders. None of the mail packages detonated. Purpose to form president, secretary of state, vice president and attorney-general were in the line of fire.

And yesterday, a shooting at a Pittsburgh synagogue killed 11 people.

The US is just 10 days out of the Midterm elections. Should the Democrats gain control of the House of Representatives, President Trump will feel the first serious congressional check on his power.

Trump's response to the two incidents has been mixed, as well as criticism of his heated rhetoric – and struggles to respond to crises.

He said: "The bottom line is that Americans must unify … These terrorizing acts are despicable and have no place in our country."

But later he blamed the media, tweeting: "A very big part of the Anger we see today in our society is caused by the purposely false and inaccurate reporting of the Mainstream Media."

On the shooting, Trump tweeted: "This evil anti-Semitic attack is an assault on humanity." "We must unite to conquer the poison of anti-Semitism from our world." But he also said of the synagogue: "If they had some kind of protection inside the temple, then it might have been a different situation.

Dangerous, disturbed people can be attracted to an angry message – which is why leaders need to be responsible for their language. To form Obama official Colin Kahl tweeted: "When we are homegrown jihadists commit terrorist attacks, we have the responsibility of dealing with them, but we also ask tough questions about the ideologies, rhetoric, and organizations like Isis & al-Qaeda that help radicalize them. same questions about right-wing terrorism. "

Trump will still be ready for the best Republican turnout he can. CNN analyst Ron Brownstein tweeted: "Trump's central message to him is that they're endangered by a constantly evolving array of threats that do not look like they're their last line of defense against them." Heightening anger / fear is his major fuel. "

Presidential approval is a traditional point at party fortunes at the Midterms. The RealClearPolitics approval average for Trump yesterday was 44.5 per cent. Democrats lead the average RCP for the ballot by 7.6 per cent.

In 2016, Hillary Clinton suffered an "October surprise" with James Comey's intervention 12 days out, reminding voters of her political baggage. Her polling fell from almost a six-point lead. The election was decided by 80,000 votes in three states.

Will these twin outrages hit turnout? Republican leaders denounced the attacks. Yet the electorate has been given examples of cause and effect, and the dangers of a chaotic driver at the wheel.

Keep an eye on the polling.