During the past six months, billionaire real-estate mogul Donald Trump has surged in national Republican polls. Despite his forthright comments pegging illegal immigrants as “rapists” and Fox News Anchor Megyn Kelly as a “bimbo,” Mr. Trump has defied conventional political wisdom. His bombastic tone, complemented by his frequent attacks on the Washington establishment, political correctness and illegal immigration have struck a nerve in many registered voters.
Throughout history, we have seen countless political figures walk the political correctness line. In an era of constant media coverage, career politicians, especially those running for president, are cognizant of how each issue is framed. As seen, one sentence has the potential to have dramatic impacts on a campaign. For example, in the 1976 presidential debate, Gerald Ford asserted “there is no Soviet domination of Eastern Europe, and there never will be under a Ford administration.” This comment, which may seem relatively short, was fundamentally wrong – and many Americans, from this point on in the election cycle, saw President Ford as incompetent and out-of-touch with foreign affairs. In 2012, Mitt Romney’s comment about the “47 percent of Americans who don’t pay the income tax” went viral, and many voters began to see him as a heartless conservative, who was only concerned with those in upper-income brackets. Regardless, these comments inevitably had an impact in the national political discussion.
In politics, it’s assumed that, depending on media coverage and attention, one comment, no matter how trivial, can have a considerable impact on a candidate’s reputation or campaign success.
Or can it?
Despite predictable political expectations, Donald Trump’s rhetoric has seemingly defied traditional political gravity. Instead of repelling voters, as anticipated by many political experts, his unabashed remarks have tapped into a national anger with voters. In response, Trump has created a gravitational pull with voters. According to Rasmussen Reports, “A new national telephone survey finds that 59 percent of Likely Republican Voters now believe Trump is likely to be their party’s nominee for president in 2016, up barely from 57 percent a week ago.” Regardless of whether one subscribes to his policies or not, it’s widely assumed that a large appeal of the Trump insurgency has been a result of his ability to bluntly and straightforwardly identify problems in Washington.
On a similar plane, former neurosurgeon, Dr. Ben Carson, has made huge strides in his anti-establishment message for dispelling political correctness and returning America to its founding roots. Carson’s warm, calming message of “Heal, Inspire and Revive” has garnered large conservative grassroots supporters, especially in Iowa where Dr. Carson ties Trump with 23 percent of support (Monmouth University, August 31st). Although his rhetoric does not match the volume level of Trump, his substantive message undoubtedly provides a sharp contrast between himself and the Republican establishment.
On the other end of the ideological spectrum, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders continues to draw huge crowds and surprisingly high numbers. According to a Huffington Post Pollster, “Clinton's lead over Sanders among Democrats was an astounding 60.1 percent to a mere 4.9 percent on March 2, 2016. By August 26, 2015 Bernie Sanders surged all the way to 23.4 percent while Clinton fell to 47.1 percent.” Although Hillary Clinton still commands an impressive lead, his democratic-socialism message is exciting a grassroots, progressive base.
Conventional political wisdom would suggest walking the party line would be the safest, most secure way to ensure a political victory. However, Donald Trump, Ben Carson and Bernie Sanders are beginning to defy this wisdom. Together, although on different ideological planes, these “outsiders” are shaking up the political process with their crusade on the established political class.
And it’s working.