I like to think of myself as an Independent when it comes to politics, but I'm not afraid to say that I generally lean far to the left. I'm pro-choice, pro-immigration, pro-LGBT rights. You might just call me a straight up Democrat, but I think the two party system is broken and getting us nowhere fast. However, this article isn't about me; it's about my Republican friends and how bad I feel for them over this coming presidential election.
Despite what some people think, it's absolutely possible for people with different political attitudes to get along in a social environment. I have friends who fall on the conservative end of the spectrum and although we might have differing opinions on certain issues we never get in arguments about them. Generally we just don't bring up politics to avoid any such confrontation.
But when it comes to this election season's republican primaries there's one thing we can agree on: Donald Trump is ruining the GOP. Despite his attitude towards women and Hispanics,Trump is currently leading in the polls by a fairly wide margin. As a reminder: the man has no political experience, has driven several of his own companies into the ground, and has a messy foreign policy, to say the least.
So why is he leading the polls? Because the news can't shut up about him. Every time Trump says something offensive, every news network broadcasts it over and over until he comes up with something else just as offensive. It's fair to say that none of the other candidates are getting nearly as much attention. His two closest opponents are Ben Carson and Jeb Bush respectively. Carson currently has an average of 16 percent in the RNC polls, and Bush is about half of that. Trump currently sits at 30 percent with all the attention he is getting. It's the constant repetition in the media that wins him those numbers.
There is such a thing as the "Illusion of Truth" in our psychology where the more we hear something, the more likely we are to believe it's true. You might recognize this as how rumors are formed. Trump being constantly touted in the media puts into the minds of voters the idea that he could actually win the presidency. His ideas are so radical and so repeated that people are starting to believe him. As much as I'd like to believe that some of that 30 percent is out of irony, the majority of those voters must agree with him.
The fact of the matter is that none of the other candidates want to risk being as loud and radical as Trump. Carson and Bush share most of the same conservative attitudes across the board. They're boring. You don't see either of them purposely offending large demographics. Rand Paul was so desperate for attention from the media that he chainsawed the tax code and is at the tail end of the polls.
The only strategy the other candidates have been using is trying to be the most conservatively conservative. Rather than expressing their true beliefs, they're burrowing into the classic conservative values as deep as they can. They're making a straw man out of their own arguments. Even if Trump doesn't get the Republican nomination, he's already done significant damage to the party by creating a three ring media circus.
At the end of the day is there really a chance he'll be the next president? I think it's incredibly unlikely. Most republican leaders don't support him, the RNC wants him to tone it down, and I have faith that the American people know in their hearts that he would be a terrible president. And barring that, the electoral college would never let him win. He is a clown putting on a show and the popular vote doesn't matter much anyway.
