As the election draws closer and closer I keep seeing the same kind of article, always titled something along the lines of, “Why you should be afraid of Donald Trump.” Look, Donald Trump is not a great guy. These fearfully written articles will let you know. Bully, liar, crook, bigot: every possible insult under the sun has been thrown at the man. Journalists are already starting to write about hypothetical sexist insults he’ll throw at Clinton. What people seem so scared about is the possibility that he’ll be our nation’s president. In reality, this is the last thing we should be worried about.
We want to say contentious things about how he should be banned from running or how he’ll destroy the Republican party if he gets nominated. Last Tuesday, about a hundred protesters gathered on the highway to stop Trump from even arriving at a rally. I understand that to see a man like Trump rise in power makes a lot of people panic, but the truth is that the man hasn’t gained anything. All he’s done is catered to the underlying hatred that was lying dormant in a considerable segment of the Republican party and the country at large. I just don’t see Trump or his message appealing to the majority of United States citizens.
My strategy is to just let the politics play out. Donald Trump seems popular simply because he’s the loudest guy in the room. This is actually causing problems for the Democratic party. There’s a very interesting discussion going on between Clinton and Sanders (when they’re not talking about each other’s voting record) about equitable income distribution and whether we should reject or embrace it. But these discussions feel trifling at best when contrasted with a bigoted egoist spouting hate speech at anyone who’s not with him.
The chaos of the Republican debates has affected overall discussions about the election. Now we spend time talking about who has a better chance of winning against Trump. The reality is most candidates could beat Trump. I feel this because, while most Trump voters won’t change their vote, I guarantee you most of the remaining Republican voters are not going to vote for Trump. He’s not even a little popular among elected officials of his own party. The New York Times reported that Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell is considering whether to run anti-Trump ads just to secure his position, treating a Democratic victory as a given. Trump has only received a total of seven endorsements from Representatives and Senators. If you pay attention, you’ll realize Trump launches tirades against Republicans and conservative media pundits with the same frequency and fervor that he brings to every other topic.
The only reason you’d think he’d have any chance in the election is due to a number of misconceptions floating around. A major one is that the Democratic turnout for the primaries is much lower than Republican turnout. This is true. But you should know that there’s been no historical correlation between primary turnouts and general election results. I think the higher turnout simply reveals the divide in the Republican party striving to pick some of the less popular but more tolerable figures. Since much of the Democratic debate has been essentially, “I [almost] agree with the other’s statement,” unless you’re really concerned about specific levels of taxation or campaign funding, you’re going to be just fine with either Democratic candidate.
The NotTrump campaign seems to me to be a bandwagon of pure panic — the very panic that’s fueling Trump’s campaign. People aren’t electing Trump because of how intelligent he is or how eloquent he is. It’s because they’re scared, and the tough, strong-looking guy seems like the right guy in this choice. He embraces the fears of the working class who see the changing face of America and shudder, saying we can return to the national greatness we once enjoyed. If the Republican party doesn’t like it, well, Dr. Frankenstein didn’t like his monster either.