The race for the Republican nomination has offered the American people endless hours of entertainment since their campaign started last year. From nonsensical debates to defamatory sound bytes, the nominees have brought their mudslinging into the media in a way the American public has never seen before. However, we are no longer able to shrug off the Republican candidates and their antics. Now that the general election is rearing its head and primaries are beginning to stack up, the race for the official nomination is becoming frighteningly real.
While many of us have been able to laugh at the seeming insanity behind many of the GOP candidates, it is partially because their antics seem anything but presidential. Personally, I have been waiting for Donald Trump’s dropout speech ever since his hateful comments about Mexicans when he announced his candidacy in June. But despite his doctrines of hate and increasingly immature behavior on the campaign trail, Trump is squarely in the lead of the GOP delegate count, with 382 delegates. His closest competitor, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, has 300 delegates, with Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., and former Gov. John Kasich, R-Ohio, trailing with 128 and 35 delegates, respectively. Shockingly, the nomination is Trump’s to lose.
However, despite his cult following among voters, will Trump live up to his campaign slogan and “Make America Great Again?” I find it hard to believe that the man who alludes to his impressive penis size on national television is going to be the calm and collected world leader we need, considering the president has ultimate control of many life-or-death situations around the world. Trump’s rash decisions and extreme views are not only frightening when it comes to the future of American policy, but also when you consider the fact that he could potentially be in control of nuclear missiles for the next four years.
It seems that Trump’s success in the polls has even divided the GOP establishment. Many of the party’s leaders and influential members, such as former Republican nominee and Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, have openly called for conservative voters to support another candidate. Regarding Trump, Romney called him a “phony” and a “fraud” during a press conference he delivered last week. However, Trump was quick to counter Romney’s attacks with his usual below-the-belt comments, citing Romney as a “failed candidate” and alluded to the fact that Romney “would have dropped to his knees” in order to gain Trump’s endorsement for his 2012 campaign.
It is to the American public’s horror that Donald Trump is leading in the polls right now. Unfortunately, his charisma and bluntness have been viewed as charming by many of his supporters, who admire his gusto for standing up to the traditional politicians. However, we cannot live in a country where a reality TV star is our leader. Not only would he not “Make America Great Again,” but he would lead us to be a country that is against many of the building blocks that have made us what we are today. Under President Trump, we would be a country that is against free trade, immigration and many progressive social issues. Trump is not what this country needs, and even his supporters are beginning to realize this.
Samantha is a freshman planning on majoring in journalism and communication arts. Please send all comments and concerns to opinion@dailycardinal.com.
