Focus Friday: Donald Trump’s chances going forward
It had to happen. In one week, Donald Trump said women who get an abortion should be punished, insulted Ted Cruz’s wife and defended his campaign manager who allegedly assaulted a female reporter. In this week’s Focus Friday we discuss Donald Trump and how the hell he is still in this race.
Will Trump’s recent comments finally start to cause him to fall in the polls?
Opinion columnist Krishna Narra: As much as I would like to believe his comments would make him drop in the polls, I feel like people are already used to Trump’s antics and way of speaking. At this point, those who find such comments atrocious may be offended, but it does not surprise them. A lot of people idolize him for saying such comments because they see a sense of courage they wish they had. In a way, he did a good job painting his campaign as a fairy tale story, being the knight saving the princess, which would be America, especially with his slogan and how he plans to “make America great again.”
Opinion columnist Sam Pichowsky: Donald Trump’s recent comments will most likely hurt him in the polls in future states. Whether they will be lethal to his campaign is a different question. I doubt that his supporters will no longer assist their controversial candidate to succeed in his quest for the nomination or the presidency in general. We must remember that many his supporters are people who nobody has bothered listening to. I certainly would not have listened to calls for a wall between us and Mexico or mass deportation. As a consequence, they have been galvanized by this candidate in Mr. Trump. They have found a spokesman for their opinions and frustrations that nobody else had seemed to listen to. Political correctness seems to be their enemy, so we must not look at the Trump phenomenon like any other presidential campaign. We have to look at it in a much different manner altogether in order to understand why people like what he says.
Opinion editor Anthony Torres: Polls are already showing him dropping faster than he’s ever dropped before. I think there’s a good chance this is the beginning of the end for Trump. He may appear to say what’s on his mind with no filter, but I think he’s calculated a lot of what he says to garner support. Lately he’s been less careful in the things he says, and some of it has ended up making him and his campaign look really bad. With the growing violence at his rallies and the things he’s been saying, people are starting to see what kind of president he probably would be, and it scares them.
Do Republicans stand a chance of winning the election if Trump is the nominee?
Opinion columnist Jorden Smith: In the general election, he has long shots at winning. If Bernie is the Democratic nominee, it may actually be close, because a lot of never Trump-ers will go to vote against socialism. Hilary Clinton is another story, as it can be a landslide or extremely close. This wholly depends on the campaign run – both Trump and Clinton are despised. There is one way Trump definitively wins in both cases: if there is any type of attack on America before the election, he wins, because people want to feel safe.
KN: The Republicans would not stand a chance of winning with any of the likely candidates, in my opinion, be it Trump or Cruz. Cruz has only gotten worse, especially regarding his proposal on how he will treat Muslims. As long as Bernie Sanders is in the race, I honestly do not think either Trump or Cruz will win the presidency. I know that if Hillary Clinton remains, then there are people more likely to vote for Trump, based on those I have spoken to in the past.
AT: Trump’s nationwide approval rating has him as high as 67 percent of Americans thinking he would be a horrible president. If he wins the nomination, the White House is virtually given to the Democrats. The people showing up to his rallies are not a good example of the nation as a whole, and a lot more people show up to vote in a general election than any other. If there is a large voter turnout this year, which is what is expected, there’s no way he can actually become president.
-The Cougar opinion desk
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