That’s how you know it’s loosely inspired by current events.

Perhaps a next iteration would include a "Call the polling agencies 'fake news'" action card? Although I'd need to figure out whether using it would boost or reduce his approval ratings...

Some fiction is just more realistic than reality

The approval rating works the exact same way it does for the current administration.

If it goes to actually 0%, there are problems. Otherwise it's a resource that can be traded against to grift personal funds.