The other day, Republican Presidential contender, Donald Trump, made a controversial comment regarding Senator John McCain's "hero status". Trump basically said that McCain was only a viewed as a hero because he was captured (during the Vietnam War). This, as expected, generated a harsh round of criticism for Mr. Trump. Although Trump's initial intention was to blast McCain's stance on immigration and his role in covering up the VA scandal, he somehow ventured down a dead-end road regarding McCain heroism.
This comment came not long after Trump called out illegal immigrants for being rapists, murderers, etc. He has also recently lambasted reporters for asking "stupid questions". Trump seems to have no filter and calls things exactly as he sees them. No matter how you feel about the guy, you've got to admit, he knows how to draw attention to himself. (I'm almost expecting Trump to decorate his campaign headquarters in Confederate Flags.)
No doubt, Trump continues to supply the American media with plenty of sound bites. Even fellow Republicans have turned on him. Senator Lindsey Graham recently referred to Trump as a jackass. (Trump promptly responded by giving out Graham's cell phone number during a speech in South Carolina). And other GOP candidates have made clear efforts to distance themselves from him.
So, with all of this being said, how do you think Trump is fairing with potential voters? Drum roll please........Trump is leading in almost every poll! Yes, that's right, with every new controversial comment, Trump seems to get more popular! So, how can this be?
I think Trump is doing well because he has quickly established himself as the one candidate who isn't afraid to speak his mind. It doesn't mean that he's necessarily right. But at least he has the balls to say it. On the contrary, Democratic Presidential contender/bozo, Martin Owe'Malley recently got himself in trouble for saying "all lives matter" in front of a mostly black audience. The crowd, obviously not feeling a whole lot of love for pale folks, voiced their opposition by booing Owe'Malley off of the stage. Ironically, their blatant racism was spun to make Owe'Malley look like an insensitive leprechaun. So, what did he do? When he was subsequently lambasted by a young, black reporter, he apologized. Yes, that's right. He basically apologized for being a recipient of racism. It was pathetic.
Do you think the Donald would have apologized to the reporter in this situation? Hell, no. He would have said something like, "F*ck you, you race-baiting moron! Next question!"
Owe'Malley currently has roughly 1% of the vote in Democratic pols while Trump leads the GOP polls* with about 20%. Coincidence?
Some of Trumps fellow Republican candidates have called for him to drop out of the race. Can you guess why? He's beating all of them!
Trump's campaign slogan is "Make America Great Again!" Of course, many criticize Trump for being too inexperienced to accomplishment this task as our next President. Ironically, several years ago, they didn't seem to care when a rookie Senator from Illinois was running for the White House.
In a nut shell, this is where Trump stands on the major issues: He believes we need to cut government spending. However, he doesn't support cutting Social Security or Medicare benefits. Instead, he believes that we should grow the economy to support those programs. On gun control, Trump supports a ban on assault weapons and supports longer wait periods for gun purchases. He thinks that climate change/global warming is bullshit. On the abortion issue, he is pro-life. Regarding gay marriage, he believes that it should be left to the states. He believes that the US should walk away from nuclear talks with Iran and increase sanctions. He opposes a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants. He wants to repeal/replace Obamacare. And he wants to end corporate taxes and lower the individual tax rates. He also proposed a one-time (14.25%) tax on the wealthy to help pay down the national debt.**
When Trump announced his candidacy several weeks ago, almost everyone took him for a joke. But now, the other GOP candidates are scrambling to knock him off of his soapbox. And as I mentioned before, whether you like him or not, he has effectively fired up the Republican base. While I don't really expect Trump to win the nomination, maybe some of the other more "stable" candidates can learn something from all of this. If nothing else, Trump has shown that people are tired of the bullshit that's constantly being fed to us by "the usual politicians".
kw
* http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2016/president/us/2016_republican_presidential_nomination-3823.html
** http://www.pbs.org/newshour/updates/donald-trump-believe-candidate-stands-10-issues/
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment