Vote 2016: The Phenomena Of Donald Trump

Twitter: @Brandonjsnews

Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign has sent the Republican Party into a whirlwind of anger and political name-calling as the battle rages on to stop him. And with Republicans winless in their last two presidential elections (2008 and 2012), the slightest thought of Donald Trump being the Republican nominee for their party has talk of a contested convention in Cleveland come July all the more popular.

The race for president is all anybody wants to talk about, or, as certain people keep saying: “If Donald Trump becomes president, I’m moving to Canada.” As much as everybody loves Bernie Sanders or Ted Cruz, it’s eventually going to be Hillary Clinton vs Donald Trump in the general election in November. Lots of people are scratching their heads and asking the same question: “How is Donald Trump becoming more and more popular?” Well, allow me to explain why this crazy phenomenon is gaining more and more ground.

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Why do a lot of people like Donald Trump? Well, it’s because a lot of people are frustrated with the current politics going on in Washington. Another reason why people like him is because he’s never afraid to say what people actually are afraid to say. Instead, his comments — about some Mexicans being rapists and blood coming out of Megyn Kelly’s “wherever,” or his incorrect claim that “thousands” of Muslims in New Jersey celebrated 9/11 — have had virtually no impact on his popularity in the polls.

Jennifer Corby is a first semester political science professor in the History, Philosophy, and Political Science Department at Kingsborough Community College. She also teaches an American Government and Politics class.

“What makes teaching American Government and Politics during an election season fun,” she said, “Is that politics feels relevant to students. They feel engaged in choosing a direction for the country, which is good because they often don’t really feel connected to the government.”

“How do we understand the popularity of Donald Trump?” she continued. “I think it’s that he appeals to three main groups, and there is some overlap between them. First, it cannot be denied that some people find his racist messaging, whether anti-immigrant, anti-Muslim, or anti-black, very appealing. He also appeals to an older, whiter, male generation that have taken a financial hit, and find Trump’s wealth and business experience compelling. Also, his bombastic personality and populist rhetoric make it easier for blue collar workers to relate to him in a way that they can’t relate to other rich people — he comes across as “one of us.” And the final group that he appeals to is voters who think the outrageous things Trump says is just for show — that he won’t build a wall or ban Muslims. This group contains people from both sides of the aisle who are frustrated with establishment politicians. They don’t see Trump as dangerous, they just see him as different, and that’s what they want.”

And strangely enough, the polls seem to support those claims.

In a recent New York Times/CBS News Poll (March 17-20, 2016), 46 percent of people would like to see Donald Trump be the Republican nominee for President, and 77 percent of people said that he would eventually be the nominee. Another 35 percent of people said that they would enthusiastically support him if he was the nominee.

“This is a lesson in not being dismissive,” Professor Corby said. “Nobody took him seriously when he first announced his campaign, and I think it’s time to accept the likelihood of his nomination, and at least entertain the possibility of his election.”

But the main question is: Would Donald Trump win against the Democrats in the general election come November? Well, not really. In the same New York Times/CBS News poll, if the election were being held today, Hillary Clinton would beat Donald Trump by 10 points (50 percent to Trump’s 40 percent), even though 52 percent of people find her not favorable. If Clinton were going against Texas Senator Ted Cruz, she would only win by three points (47 percent to Cruz’s 44 percent). And strangely enough, if the election were being held today, only Ohio Governor John Kasich would beat Clinton by four points (47 percent to Clinton’s 43 percent). Bernie Sanders beats Trump by 15 points (53 percent to Trump’s 38 percent).

I guess the main point is that Donald Trump’s wildly inconsistent positions on abortion, immigration and foreign policy make him very uncomfortable with voters. At least with Ted Cruz and John Kasich, at least you basically know where they stand on the issues. But let’s take into account what Professor Corby said for a moment. Let’s at least for the time being, even if it sounds crazy, entertain the thought of his nomination and election.

If he were to become president on January 20, 2017, every decision that he makes — whether he actually decides to build a wall on the Mexican border and have Mexico pay for it, or his plan to take out terrorist’s families to stop Isis — is going to matter then. And you will remember that day, because that’s when people from the future will come back to try and stop the entire thing from happening.