Quote:
Originally Posted by BeamOn
Will his popularity translate into votes during crunch time, this is what I am questioning. Some of his popularity I assume is a given considering his TV persona. And yes, he is connecting with the racist element of his party which is hopefully a small portion of the GOP. So I believe this is entertainment based, say the bad boy candidate rather than substance based. While at it he is managing expose the bigotry and hypocrisy of the GOP. And some of his comments are legit while he offers no solutions.
Truth be told, just about every candidate is boring and a lightweight. next debate is probably going to be a tribute to RR than a serious policy discussion.
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The lesson here is that the racist element in the Republican base is larger than anticipated and it appears to be large enough to determine the nominee. I think the reason that nobody thought it was so big is that it wasn't. Overt racism and xenophobia has been growing exponentially since 9-11 and since the election of Barack Obama.
The reasons should be obvious. It should also be obvious that the Republicans, as the war party and as the Obama-hating party, deliberately or otherwise, have put out the welcome mat for the worst elements of our society.
The truth is, unless he's derailed by a personal scandal of epic proportions, Trump appears to be a shoo-in for the Republican nomination. It also appears that none of the Democratic hopefuls has the juice to overtake Hillary. So, we'll have a general election of Trump vs. Clinton and, as always, the winner will be determined by the middle. Will they go go for Trump despite his demagoguery and nastiness or will they go for Clinton despite the constant drumbeat of faux scandal and despite her gender? I don't have the answer but it seems to me that it could go either way.