America, I have some bad news. As you may or may not be aware of, real-estate mogul/reality TV star/businessman/living YouTube comments section Donald Trump is still running for President of the United States. This is a news event, because against the best interests and better judgement of literally everybody involved, this caricature of a human being is somehow leading Republican primary polls, to the delight of Satan and Trump's mother— and to the abject horror of the rest of the human race. The laughter that surrounded his campaign at the start grows more nervous daily as his campaign picks up steam, and nobody really has any idea what's going to happen next. The unforeseen success and novelty of Trump's candidacy has spawned thinkpieces all over print media and the Internet, mostly surrounding the potential consequences of what a Trump presidency would do for America. In my opinion, though, that's far from the most terrifying aspect of this Simpsons episode brought to life-- it's the fact that he even has the avenue to be this successful in the first place.

Forget for a minute, if you can, that this patent lunatic might actually, God forbid, win the election for President of the Goddamn United States of America. Even as he leads polls in Iowa, New Hampshire, and nationally (and in Hades, probably), that remains a very distant possibility— most of America simply doesn't care about the election, given that it's still a year out. I'd like to think America is still a little too sentient for a Trump presidency to be a real threat. Ignore his stupid little pouty face and stupid spray-tanned skin (in the Behr paint spectrum, his skin tone is somewhere between "Cheerful Tangarine" and "Mandarin"). For just a second, ignore the walking, talking caricature that is Donald John Trump. As fun as it is to hypothesize about an apocalyptic endgame where Trump sits in the Oval Office, that is far from the most interesting part of his campaign.

Lest we forget, it's not just Donald Trump that's crazy and racist. He's not alone in the Republican field; he's simply the loudest. This race has turned relative moderates Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio into either non-factors (Hey, Jeb!) or Tea Party golden boys quickly backpedaling on everything that made them not vomit-inducing ('Sup, Marco). A large percentage of Republican insiders have swallowed their pride and hitched their wagon to the idea of a Cruz candidacy. Think about this: In all the garbage coming out of Donald Trump's mouth, Ted Cruz has seemed like a real, reasonable candidate. Let me make something crystal clear: Ted Cruz might be an actual troll. Like, an under-the-bridge one. Ted Cruz is not a reasonable candidate for President of his neighborhood book club, let alone the United States, but because Donald Trump exists, people are like, "OK, he may be nuts, but he's no Trump." This has neverbeen a good train of thought for anything. These Republicans have somehow done the impossible--they've made noted Eisenhower Republican Hillary Rodham Clinton look like a reasonably progressive, competent candidate. Even if Donald Trump doesn't get anywhere near the candidacy, he's already had a huge impact on this race by forcing other candidates to bend to his vitriol.

Let's look at the bigger picture for a minute, beyond the political: A man who is running on a platform of little more than blatant, unadulterated racism is in with a shout for the highest office in the country. He has not been laughed off the stage, contrary to the wishes of liberal America; he's been met with open arms basically wherever he goes. Here is a man who seriously suggested banning all Muslims from the United States and openly brags about when he sexually harassed a woman years ago, and has been rewarded with a successful Presidential campaign and a hosting gig on "SNL."

As a student of political science, I find Donald Trump fascinating-- he's like America's id, given human form (well, technically— I'm still not sold that he's not at least part Ferengi). I'm still endlessly amused by everything he says. My brother and I are reasonably certain that he only ran for President in the first place because he lost a bet with one of his buddies and wanted to see how far he could take this thing. However, as funny as he is, he's still an incredibly impactful political figure, and should be treated as such.

It's easy and convenient to consider Donald Trump as something of an outlier, an anomaly. Nothing about him screams "everyman"— his most significant personality trait is that he's wealthy, as he hasn't been shy about reminding us. Considering Trump as unrepresentative of America, though, is wishful thinking. He's not the product of some political machine, as he makes gleefully clear at every opportunity. He's hardly enjoyed any super PAC support. No, Donald Trump rose to such prominence by simply telling the people what they want to hear. Donald Trump is not a disease; Trump is a symptom of an America that insists on supporting apartheid regimes in Israel and dehumanizing black and brown citizens at home. When we remember that, in today's America, gun ownership is a right but health care is a privilege, should Trump's success even be a surprise? After all, he's only reflecting the opinions of the millions of people who support him. This is the scariest part of the Trump story; not that he exists, but that a plurality of Republican voters see their interests best represented in a misogynist, racist lunatic, while the biggest criticisms leveled at Trump treat him like he's the only bigoted rich white man in the American political sphere. In the worst way, Donald Trump is exactly what American voters asked for.

Presidential elections often do a great job of holding a mirror up to the greater American populace. Right now, we look in this mirror and see Donald Trump; as frightening as that is, it means something. Whether he wins or not, the simple fact that his platform exists serves as a scathing indictment of the American people. America is faced with a choice: either we see how messed up the current political climate is that it's granted a monster like Trump such legitimacy, or we close our eyes, stuff our ears, and hope he goes away. The values Trump embodies aren't going anywhere; getting rid of him will fix precisely nothing. My biggest worry is that Americans will be content with the eventual demise of Trump's campaign, while the climate that enabled his rise remains as deplorable as ever. That, to me, is the scariest part of the Trump candidacy.