It keeps on happening. A little-known billionaire businessman by the name of Trump continues to dominate the GOP field in most of the primaries so far. With each win, Donald Trump’s betting odds get better and better. He has pulled off what was once thought to be impossible: becoming the Republican front-runner for the 2016 presidential race. He won seven of the eleven states on Super Tuesday. Combined with his early wins in New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada, he now has a total of 316 delegates. Not too far behind him is Ted Cruz, who has 226 delegates. Still, Trump is all set to win the GOP nomination to be the next POTUS.
The Republicans have done a good job shooting themselves in the foot this election season, first by underestimating Trump and the dissatisfaction of voters with the GOP establishment, and secondly by adopting “winner-take-all” rules in 15 states, which account for 36 percent of Republican delegates. When these rules were adopted, Trump was still thought of as a novelty by most in the GOP. Take Florida, for example. If Trump wins the Sunshine State, he will get all of Florida’s 99 delegates. Republicans have a reason to be scared. They would rather not have such a polarizing figure representing their party, and therein lies the problem.
Many conservatives do not trust any of the mainstream candidates vying for the nomination. They are fed up with business as usual, and Trump’s popularity is primarily the voice of angry white people who feel left behind in an ever-diversifying America. Trump resonates particularly in Southern states, where his brash rhetoric is a mark of toughness and authenticity in a region where people often feel looked down on by elitist liberals in Washington, Hollywood, and many northern states. However, when former Ku Klux Klan Grand Wizard David Duke gives you his endorsement, it’s probably a good time to take a step back and reconsider your priorities.
Of course, in the culture of instant gratification, the loudest and brashest usually have the spotlight. Donald Trump certainly fits that mold. His is a sort of reality-TV politics that has reached its apotheosis in this three-ring circus passing for a presidential race. Insults upon insults, bullying tactics, below-the-belt blows…this is nothing new in American culture, but the Trump/Rubio/Cruz slugfest takes the cake. It is as if angry white people have gotten so fed up with Obama’s effete, soft-spoken demeanor that they now want the complete opposite. It’s not quite the same as wanting to have a beer with George W. Bush. It’s more like wanting a spokesman for everything you would like to say, but would probably get beaten up if you actually said it. Call it the politics of white rage.
The bigger question, though, is whether Trump can actually win against Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders. Trump’s supporters are a very specific faction of the Republican Party. Many Republicans have said they will not vote for him if he gets the GOP nomination. This may be one of the factors in the way the political betting odds for the 2016 presidential election are trending towards Secretary Clinton winning it all. Democrats, on the other hand, are expected to rally around whoever is nominated, be it Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders. At this point, the Democrats can just sit back and watch as The Donald shoots his mouth off until he’s red in the face, all sound and fury, signifying nothing.