YouSpeak: The Trump Factor

Strident billionaire the leading GOP presidential contender, but can he really win?

September 21, 2015
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When real estate mogul and reality television host Donald Trump announced he was running for president, political pundits were quick to dismiss him.

And since entering the race for the Republican nomination, the outspoken billionaire has made enough gaffes to have torpedoed most any other presidential aspirant. His disparaging remarks about GOP candidate Cary Fiorina—“Look at that face! Would anyone vote for that? Can you imagine that, the face of our next president?”—made headlines. This just weeks after his crude comments about Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly, when he suggested that she had asked him particularly tough questions during the first GOP debate in August because she was menstruating.

Despite such blunders and his controversial remarks on issues like immigration, “the Donald” is the leading Republican front-runner, much to the consternation of party organizers and presidential candidates like Jeb Bush and Scott Walker. In a new Washington Post/ABC News poll, Trump led the field of Republican presidential aspirants with 33 percent of the vote. Bush received just 8 percent.

But there are subtle indications that the ground may be shifting. Fiorina made a strong showing in last Thursday’s second GOP debate, and another Republican candidate, retired physician Ben Carson, has moved from 6 percent to 23 percent in two recent New York Times/CBS News polls.

Despite Trump’s standing in the polls, serious questions remain about whether he can win the White House. So this week’s YouSpeak asks: “Is Donald Trump electable?”

“YouSpeak” typically appears on Mondays. If you have a suggestion for a topic, leave it in the Comment section below.

Bill Politis can be reached at bpolitis@bu.edu.

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YouSpeak: The Trump Factor

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  • Bill Politis

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    Bill Politis is a documentary filmmaker based in Boston. Profile

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Boston University moderates comments to facilitate an informed, substantive, civil conversation. Abusive, profane, self-promotional, misleading, incoherent or off-topic comments will be rejected. Moderators are staffed during regular business hours (EST) and can only accept comments written in English. Statistics or facts must include a citation or a link to the citation.

There are 6 comments on YouSpeak: The Trump Factor

  1. Is he electable……..Certainly. People are tired of the same old, same old. While his delivery is a bit insensitive and he is not quite up to speed on facts, he is willing to address a number of issues that other candidates and lifelong politicians has basically ignored. Our country is basically being driven into the ground with life-long entitlement programs overseen by bureaucrats. A drastic change is comprehensible given the current state of the country. While it remains to be determined whether “the Donald” is the right choice, certainly he has awaken the others. If he does not get the nomination, it would be interesting to see whom he would endorse. It will be a critical next 14 months!

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    1. You cannot win without women or minorities. In other words, you can’t win on white men alone (If you don’t believe me, talk to John McCain and Mitt Romney), which is exactly who Donald Trump and the current GOP attracts. Donald Trump alienates far too many important demographics, which is characteristic of this crop of GOP Candidates. Moderate Republicanism is dead because everybody has to tow the ultra-conservative line, which I think is killing the Republican party.

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      1. I agree !! Yes he is probably the most “electable” republican, but in this day and age Republicans are barely electable because of the women/minority vote. Because of this Trump is not electable. It’s fun for people to watch/listen to him because radical ideas and sensationalism is in demand because people are fed up. Capitalism is fine for a while, but eventually all the wealth ends up at the top. Our empire is crumbling. All the issues presented to us are just “red herrings”. There have always been the Robber Barons in this country, but now there is no way for most people to realize the American Dream of days past. Our system is entirely corrupt now and there is no way to stop the runaway wealth imbalance in this country. The poor will continue to get poorer and the wealthy will continue to get wealthier. We are in a death spiral. All empires in the history of the world have crumbled. There is one common denominator in the downfall of all empires………the middle class are squeezed out and all citizenry become peasants. It’s happening here now. Whether it’s revolution, civil unrest or malaise; our system will crumble. So it really doesn’t matter who is electable because it’s too late for anyone to fix it. We are in a death spiral. Sorry so cynical. History doesn’t lie.

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  3. I hate Trump stance on immigration, women’s rights, social protection and many others, but I seek of all those sugar coating and outright lies about state of economy, about limiting corporate power and controlling financial sectors, about effect of Obamacare, about spying, Iraq, Iran, about Russia and Ukraine, about Syria. Some even talk them self into the Nobel Prize and then do exactly opposite: ignites wars, murder people without any fair court with drone army. I seek of this political reality show called presidential race and all those money spent on nothing. I will vote for Trump just to make all American see itself in the mirror.

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  4. I am an independent who supports Bernie Sanders. Having said that, Trump is actually not as bad as the media portrays him to be. He says what is on his mind, he is impulsive with his words- which makes us think that he is a mean, crude person. During the last GOP debate, he vehemently exclaimed how Bush didn’t keep us safe after the World Trade Center went down and how it was huge mistake, in addition to going into the Middle East. He also claims to be pro-life, but supports Planned Parenthood’s other services besides abortion. Not saying he is the best candidate or that he has the experience, but I think people’s opinions of him is very much tainted by the media’s portrayal of him.

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