After Super Tuesday, part three, it is clear that Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton are the undisputed frontrunners of the 2016 primary season. With Clinton staking claim over Illinois, North Carolina, Florida, and Ohio, she managed to take back control of the map after losing a huge upset to Bernie Sanders in Michigan. Trump easily defeated his main opponent, Marco Rubio, in Florida before going on to win North Carolina and Illinois. As of now, the official results of the Missouri election have not been called for either party, although Clinton and Trump both maintain a less than one percent lead with all of the votes accounted for.
The map does not lie, both Clinton and Trump have dominated thus far in the primary season, winning a sizable amount of the states who have cast their votes to date. The delegates leave no room for interpretation. Trump has 671, with his second place rival Ted Cruz only securing 411. Clinton has an even bigger lead with 1,606 delegates over Bernie's 851. The numbers are indisputable. With each win, both frontrunners come closer and closer to securing the nomination. But that does not dismiss one unusual reality: most Americans still do not like them.
As the general election draws nearer, both the Republican and Democratic parties must take on a new challenge -- get their candidate into the White House. But how exactly does that happen when your frontrunner on both sides is viewed by the general electorate with such high levels of distaste, distrust, and disapproval?
According to the Huffpost Pollster , it was found that Trump had an unfavorability rating of 57.6 percent, with a favorability rating of 36.1 percent. Hillary wasn't far behind with a 53.6 percent unfavorability rating and a favorability rating of just 40 percent. If both frontrunners do go on to compete in the general election, it could be the first time in the modern era where both candidates vying for president will campaign with highly negative approval ratings. What an election, right?
So what does this mean for the election and the two parties, in general? In exit polls conducted on Tuesday in voting primary states, a surprisingly large amount of voters said they would consider voting for a third-party candidate if the general election came down to Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. In Illinois, that percentage was as high as 41 percent. With the first ever televised Libertarian debate coming up on March 29, and a growing number of anti-Trump GOP members pushing for a conservative Independent candidate, we could be witnessing a growing shift away from our traditional two party system. Could this be the beginning of the end of the Republican or Democratic parties? Probably not. But who knows, stranger things have happened in the last year.
So why are Clinton and Trump disliked so intensely? Both of them have been household names for decades. We have lived with them through every controversy, every email scandal, and every reality TV show. They have lived in the spotlight and aired their dirty laundry out in public for all the world to see. The American public has formed opinions, bad ones, and they aren't likely to change in the next few months. Donald the racist and Hillary the liar.
If these two go on to battle it out in the general, they must not only strive to win votes but the hearts of Americans as well. With one candidate viewed as a rude, brash hothead, and the other a dishonest and corrupt politician, this could be their biggest challenge yet. Both candidates will no doubt attempt to win the election by proving to America that they are the honest and trustworthy choice for president, representative of the countries' morals and values. The question is, will America buy it?
