Why Republicans suddenly feel heartened about 2020

After a particularly rough few weeks for President Trump, in which his approval rating plummeted while Americans blamed him for the partial government shutdown, some of his supporters are suddenly feeling more optimistic about 2020.

A new report from Politico details how Trump's advisers, who are keeping a close eye on Democrats running for president in 2020, are feeling "a mix of relief over the field’s sprint to the left." Those in Trump's inner circle apparently believe that the eventual Democratic nominee is going to be "an out-of-the-mainstream liberal" who the president should have no trouble beating.

Additionally, Politico writes that Republicans are "heartened" by the Democrats not having a clear frontrunner at this point, feeling they "lack a singular figure" who would be able to defeat Trump. Republicans also evidently giddy over some of the difficulties early Democratic candidates have run into, with Republican donors at a recent retreat reportedly celebrating claims of Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) treating her staff poorly, as well as Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) apologizing for identifying as Native American.

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This Politico report is certainly a change of pace following a New York Times report from amid the partial government shutdown, which said that Trump's associates say he "appears without a plan for mounting a strong campaign in 2020" and could even face a primary challenge. So whether Trump's supporters really should be feeling this confident about 2020 is up for debate, but a recent Gallup poll did show Trump's approval rating jumping up seven points to his best number since October.

But it sounds like Trump's team is a little less confident about the president's ability to defeat a more moderate Democrat, with Trump and his advisers feeling former Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) are two potential candidates who could be tough to beat.