The American business mogal turn presidential candidate has been fired from NBC, his pageant will be aired, and many people are against his campaign. Are you going to vote for Donald Trump?
dons tinfoil hat Imagine you are the Republican Party. You need to make a bunch of candidates look good against Hilary Clinton, the presumed front runner for the Democratic nomination. What do you want to do? You want to make Republican policy look good. You want to silence the critics that will inevitably trot out the "Republicans hate: Minorities, gays, non-Christians, abortion..." list goes on. So instead of waiting for the Democrat soft-money machine to spin up and put all those ideas in the public and force the reaction from all the candidates you stop and think. "What if we got a rich Republican that has access to national airtime and is known for being a bozo so my candidate can differentiate himself from the salacious 'Republican' policies without having to even mention a Democrat. Who do we know that loves the spotlight so much that he is willing to just make an utter ass of himself to make other Republicans look better.....wait! I know a guy." Enter Donald Trump. He isn't a candidate. He is an effigy for Republicans to burn in a misguided attempt to make their candidates seem less ridiculous. Seem more ready when compared to Hillary. To seem slightly less like the awkward collection of not-ready for prime time weirdos they've found so far. removes tinfoil hat
I like your theory. Sadly, not all of the candidates got the memo to burn Trump. Ted Cruz, the Hispanic Tea Party senator from Texas, is team Trump. Granted, he's of Cuban heritage rather than Mexican, but it just seems silly that he'd cheer for an anti-immigration guy when his own dad is an immigrant. I suspect Cruz is just another foil like Trump though. He's not likely to win the nomination, but his presence makes the other contenders look less extreme by comparison. It's like marking up an item's price in a store so that the rip off next to it suddenly looks like a reasonable deal.
I guess he is a good distraction from the other candidates. I think Hillary has nothing to worry about if Donald Trump keeps up his shenanigans.
I still remember when conventional wisdom was that Hillary had a lock on the nomination last time around. She might be able to beat who ever the Republicans end up putting up against her but she is going to have to survive the Sanders campaign without lying her ass off so badly that she has lost all credibility when the general comes. I know more people who are going to vote for Sanders in the primary than I do people who would have voted for Hilary if he hadn't run. It might end up being an exciting Democratic Primary.
A bit off topic...
I was talking to my friend about potential candidates. He is voting for Marco Rubio (we are in Miami) and I am for the Bern. He made up a point that Sanders would be the oldest president to date. Sanders is already older than Reagan when he finished his presidency. I don't think that someone's old age is a good reason not to vote for them. Sure yeah they maybe old but you don't know when they will kick the bucket. Reagan was 96 when he died, so why can't Sander's lead a healthy life while in office. But I do think that if Sanders does not win this next election he won't make an attempt in 2020.
People were making a big fuss about John McCain's age when he ran for president, but he's still alive and kicking today. In any case, I'd rather have an old guy who I think is the best fit do a few years of good in the White House and then croak before the end of his term than have someone mediocre (or worse) in there for the full term or two terms. Hopefully he doesn't pick the left's version of Palin for his running mate.
My guess is that the choice between Bernie and Hillary will have a lot to do with their presumptive foe. People tend to judge a candidate against their adversary and not solely by their record. I'm more interested to see who comes out of the right. Wide open with a TON of people running. Not a one of them that appeals me. Too bad. Maybe someone will emerge.