Even that radically over estimate’s his popularity since a large portion of those voters would vote for any republican against a democrat.

It’s really important to remember that America isn’t a democracy. We don’t have ranked voting or a lottery option – The voters don’t have a functional ‘none of the above’ option. Add to that the lack of a recall mechanism or randomized districting, and it’s pretty easy for a coordinated elite to install someone widely disliked for long periods of time.