Presidential candidate Donald Trump has proven recently that he is not a flash in the pan politician. For the past eight or so weeks, Trump has led the GOP by wide margins. According to Quinnipiac polls, the smallest margin that Trump leads the GOP by in any given swing state is 4 percent in Florida (21 percent to Jeb Bush's 17 percent). Trump's poll results seem to indicate that people do not mind his crass and upfront "style." Below the theatrics of his candidacy style, Trump holds archaic political and personal views that simply are no longer supported by a majority of the people of the United States.
Trump believes in making same-sex marriage a state issue for starters, and given the recent ruling by the supreme court, he seems to be outdated. In addition to the law itself, Gallup polls show that 60 percent of the population believe in marriage equality across the board. When the opinion is split by party, 39 percent of Republicans, and 69 percent of Democrats respectively support same-sex marriage. When the Republican party is broken into age segments, 61 percent of GOP members age 18 to 25 support the cause. Trump has been wishy-washy on the issue in the past, and currently as the lead candidate for the GOP, appears to be among the last of a dying breed.
Trump also wants to cut global warming prevention spending entirely because he believes that it is simply a sham. Global warming is a widely accepted phenomenon at this point, and Trump refutes it on the grounds that winters have been colder recently (which can be attributed to natural climate variation). As the Earth's ice caps continue to melt, this issue becomes more and more important with each passing moment. According to Gallup, only conservative Republicans lack a majority in believing that global warming will affect the world in their lifetimes. Trump once again sides with a dying breed of conservatism.
On a personal level, Trump claims that he refuses to be politically correct, but in reality it seems as though his claim is a cop out so he can be a jerk to whomever he chooses. One of Trump's main issues seems to be in making extreme generalizations. He has claimed in the past that Mexicans are lazy rapists and that the United States is a dumping ground for Mexico. Trump also alienates women with misogynistic and frankly disguising remarks. He has been on record calling some women "fat pigs" and "disgusting animals." When recently speaking of Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly during an interview, he called out her expression from a recent debate and stated that blood was coming out of her eyes, or her "wherever." Backlash from the comment came, and yet Trump continues to go forward as the leader of the GOP.
Trump seems to be a part of the old guard of the GOP. A last-ditch effort of sorts for Republicans that still support everything that he does, but polls show that democrats nearly across the board poll better than Trump in swing states. Trump and the GOP need to modernize, or the political system will do so without them.
