First things first: Trump is qualified for the Presidency. Not in terms of experience of education or even hair-do. He meets the baseline Constitutional prerequisites — he wasn’t
born in Kenya, isn’t too young, etc. So he has the right to run for the highest office in our land. Like it or not.
That doesn’t mean his candidacy isn’t problematic. Before he entered the race, there were many — some might say too many — bright, diverse, and engaging men and women running on the Republican ticket to defeat whatever permutation of Clinton-Sanders emerges after the
primaries. Now that he’s in the race, they are all still there and for the most part are good candidates to compete for the nomination. Trump though brings a quality to the process that’s not needed.
From the moment he entered the race, Trump sucked the air out of the room so to speak with the way he instantly dominated media coverage. Trump Trump Trump de Trump Trump. Then,
with the world as his stage, he proceeded to make stupid statements. There’s nothing wrong with a candidate making stupid statements. Left and Right candidates do it all the time. The problem with Trump’s stupid statements is that, in a climate where the media is essentially an extension of the Democrat Party (one might call it state run), the narrative then seeks to attach Donald Trump’s stupid statements with all those other Republican candidates seeking the nomination.
Instead of debating policy issues for example, we’ll now be treated to coverage that runs along the lines of “Trump said X, is that an indicator of how most Republican voters feel?”. Of course most Republican voters aren’t racist xenophobes stuck in 1847. That’s a ridiculous notion. But CNN, MSNBC, the New York Times, NBC, Vox.com, Salon.com, et al, will soon run with that narrative if they haven’t done so already. It will go a little something like this:
Host: Donald Trump said some pretty interesting things. Do you think what he says resonates with Republican voters?
Guest: I do
Host: Just look at the poll numbers. It reflects how far right the Republican Party has become and why we need a centrist like — insert Democrat candidates name here — in 2016. The Republican Party is simply out of touch.
Thing is, it’s not out of touch. And Trump is only in touch with his ego. That’s why he’s running and unfortunately, his running is drowning out the voices of a great many contenders for the nomination right now.
Image: https://www.flickr.com/photos/gageskidmore/17211877253
