Donald John Trump, Sr. is the leading GOP candidate as it stands today, and eventually something’s got to give. Established politicians may continue to bash the candidate for now, but how long until a small faction of support emerges? Or
It should’ve been frightening to read the opening statement of this column. If it was not, allow me to reiterate: Donald Trump is the leading GOP presidential candidate. Let’s start at the most obvious issue: the United States is neither a business nor a conglomerate. There are articulated reasons that our country is bound by a set of
Even to win an election, Donald Trump will need some sort of political support from the GOP. This support is mainly needed in the form of delegates during the Republican National Convention in 2016. At the rate that Trump is cultivating enemies among the Republican party, he will need overwhelming popular support to sweep a majority of the primaries.
Some will say he has already achieved a level of support that many professionals thought was impossible until recently. But a lot of logic and a little bit of history tells us that his rise won’t be perpetual. Does anybody remember Ross Perot?
Truthfully, Donald Trump is no Ross Perot, and he certainly will not be a third party candidate. Not unless he goes back on a recent statement, which is admittedly possible. The real issue arises if Trump stays true to his word and runs as a Republican. If he sticks with the GOP, there will be a certain point in time when any remaining Republicans that Donald Trump hasn’t dehumanized or isolated may eventually lend him their support.
Even if that happens, though, there will still be a solidified faction of resistance in the upper levels of Republican Party leadership. It’s doubtful that Sen. John McCain or South Carolina’s own Sen. Lindsey Graham will ever turn to the dark side. If the Trump opposition within the party bands together, they would represent a significant obstacle.
All in all, the GOP is heading towards a major internal conflict. The only realistic thing such a conflict would achieve approaching 2016 would be an easy path to the presidency for leading democratic candidate Hillary Clinton. While the Republican candidates waste time and energy attacking each other, the Clinton campaign will rally support and be ready to pounce on the survivor.
Even beyond all of these obstacles, Donald Trump still dreams of being president and is still the leader in the primary. Even if he were to get to the Oval Office, Trump would still fail himself for not understanding a simple fact: it takes cooperation to win the presidency.
Cooperation is a necessity to win the election because it is also necessary to effectively execute the office of president of the United States. Donald Trump didn’t have to cooperate with anyone to inherit his father’s multimillion-dollar company, and it seems that he never learned that skill. Disregarding all of the reasons he won’t, and shouldn’t, win the primary or general elections, Trump would be a horrible president.
There are plenty of reasons that Donald Trump should be eliminated from serious contention before too long. The biggest question is when this moment will finally occur. I hope that the Republican voters in the primary will come to their senses, but perhaps it will take the career politicians to doom the Trump campaign. One way or the other, it won’t be soon enough. But as I look at the polls today, the idea that the Republican Party will take the slow, painful route to the end of Donald Trump is the idea that scares me most.