Donald Trump is the most controversial presidential candidate in the 21st century. His policies, such as building a wall on the Mexican border, deporting all undocumented immigrants and barring Muslim immigration, have earned him much scorn from both parties. However, he has been leading the Republican field since July and still dominates the polls. The latest national poll conducted by CNN/ORC puts him at 41 percent, with his nearest rival, Ted Cruz, a distant 19 percent.
Many experts are puzzled at how exactly Mr. Trump has been able to rally such a large portion of the party with his extreme stances. It is not solely an effort of Trump’s money, as the amount of money he has accumulated and spent in this campaign is actually miniscule. Trump had raised $5.83 million and had spent $5.57 million as of the end of the third quarter of last year, with a $1.8 million personal loan to his own campaign to boot.
Trump’s base is mixed with many demographics. The strongest one being white working class men without college degrees. Particularly in the Midwest, these voters feel dissatisfied with the status quo to the point where they wish for radical change. Trump’s appeal to them mostly includes his opposition to free trade, hostility toward Hispanic immigrants that usually receive lower wages and hardline anti-terrorism.
However, there is a contingent of youth that is vocally in favor of Trump’s policies. To find out whether this theory has any weight, the Patriot Post asked several students if they supported him, and why.
Junior Joshua Dedona said, “He is a businessman, and a businessman needs to run this country because politicians have put us in this debt.” The appeal of his businesses experience also rings true with senior Adam Fouad, “He has successfully run his business, has known many world leaders, and can fix America’s economy but not the politics.” His bombastic appearances on television convinced junior Dominic Ciero, “I was watching some of the debates, and I agree with his immigration policies and how he wants to bring us out of debt.”
Donald Trump has multi-faceted appeal to many different groups, and this appeal has been severely underestimated by many pundits. His campaign was treated as a mere joke last summer, but Trump is no joke. By all means he has demonstrated an ability to skillfully take down his rivals and reduce them to irrelevance. It remains to be seen if those willing to voice support will turn out and vote for him come February.
